The Second Order I: The New Empire
by pUnKcHeEsE
Summary: The last of the Sith, a Falleen named Darth Zen, begins his age-long conquest against the New Republic. FINISHED!!! PLEASE R
1. Chapter 1

44 YEARS AFTER RETURN OF THE JEDI…

            "What has become of the fleet?" the dark figure asked.

            "Sir, the fleet is in full operation," a middle-aged officer in an Imperial uniform said, trying not to show the slightest bit of intimidation. The cloaked man… _Or alien_, he thought. _The one they call Zen._

            "Excellent work, Commodore. Your command of the factory has proven your significance as an Imperial officer. Your promotion has come well earned. Congratulations Admiral," Darth Zen said.

            "T…Thank you, my lord. But I must ask, what will the son of Pelleaon think about this?" Admiral Welsh asked the tall figure.

            "Seth Pelleaon is a fool. His father is in our possession, and his father was a fool to ever sign a treaty with the Republic. The Republic is more corrupted than when Palpatine took over, and the Empire shall rule the galaxy once again, but not with a withered old man like Palpatine on a throne."

            Welsh raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "What will it be, my lord?"

            "I've had a vision: thirteen Sith on thirteen thrones. Ask no more, and speak not one word of this conversation, Admiral. I am entrusting you with information that, if leaked, could bring the demise of the New Empire." Zen ordered in his scratchy, thick voice. Welsh turned around and knew that his personal glory would be great. _With a man like Darth Zen leading us, the New Empire will be invincible!_

*           *           *

            Laser cannons blared as Tim Triforce threw down his E-Wing at the Hornet Interceptor. The turbocharged cannons hit the E-Wing's main drives and sent Tim into a spin. An explosion rocked the void of space as the E-Wing's molecularly-bonded armor began melting.

            "Aaaaaaaahhhh!" Triforce yelled as his E-Wing exploded. Bits and pieces of blackened armor and machinery floated through space, with echoes of spirits flying through the void.

"I hate that simulation!" Tim said, slamming his fist on his chair. "Why would we ever need to fight Hornet Interceptors with laser cannons with near the power of turbolasers?" the 22-year old fighter pilot exclaimed in an annoyed tone.

            "Heh heh heh… " Jaina Solo smiled. Her incredibly long, dark hair hung down, covering up her ears and part of her face. She pushed it back with her fingers. "Lieutenant, that anger won't get you anywhere."

            Tim's annoyance slowly evaporated as he took in the words of the Jedi. Jaina was known for her peace and calm and place in the Jedi Council, but when need be, she was one of the best starfighter pilots in the galaxy. When the criminal organization Tycoon attempted a takeover of Coruscant, her quick-thinking skills in an X-Wing allowed her to infiltrate several cruisers and launch proton torpedoes inside the docking bays to destroy the starfighters of Tycoon, allowing the Republic line of cruisers to destroy the remaining ships.

            Tim greatly respected her, she was a great symbol of the New Republic. "Yes, Master." Tim said, bowing. Jaina broke into laughter at him.

            "You don't have to act like I'm a ceremonial figure or something," she said, as she had read his mind a little bit with the force. Tim blushed a bit, and nodded, walking out of the room to his quarters.

            _He's quite a pilot, I daresay… After all, I did rig those Hornet Interceptors… Hahahaha…_

            Jaina smiled, but the look of happiness faded as she thought about years before when her father and Chewie rigged the same type of simulation. Chewbacca was dead, and had been for years, but her father was old and tired. He wasn't going to live much longer, and Jaina knew it.       

She felt another negative force, but this time coming from her uncle. She knew he was calling for the Council, but her family ties to him allowed her to hear things like that. She walked out of the simulator room and walked into the turbolift in the hall, telling it to take her to the Jedi Temple, where her uncle could tell her what was wrong.

*           *           *

            "There is a disturbance, Master," Jacen Solo said to his uncle Luke. Luke nodded. "Its almost like a dark force is in motion, but I can't pinpoint where," Luke said, closing his eyes.

_            Pain and torture… Suffering…_

            "Something has occurred with the Empire," Luke said with his eyes closed, alarmed.

            Jacen's eyes widened. "What is it? The remnant is at peace-" Jacen started to say, but was cut off by the Council Chamber's doors opening. In stepped Worrsil, who was a Quarren, and Jaina Solo. They stood as several members of the Jedi Council began walking in.

The Council was composed of nine members, with Kyp Durron and Luke Skywalker as Senior members. Jacen Solo had finally respected Kyp Durron when Luke allowed Kyp to be on the Council several years ago. _Master Durron's dark side antics of the past are gladly forgotten. Although sometimes I still wonder…_

             His thoughts trailed off as the rest of the Council walked in. The Council consisted of Kyp Durron, the Rodian Yees, the Sullustan Fridu Klu, the Noghri Uzbakh, Tenel Ka, Rillia Rain, Yarrow Tadan the Ithorian and Master Corran Horn. They all had special abilities that were used in some way to help the Jedi order. The Jedi worked for the Republic as ambassadors, despite much public protest on the entire situation.

They sat down as the Solo siblings and Worrsil, Jacen's apprentice, stood, as they were in active duty.

            "I have summoned you all here for there is a great disturbance in the force. The dark side's cloak is covering a planet." Luke Skywalker said to his fellow Council members and Jedi.

            "I've felt the same thing," Master Yees stated.

            "It feels… almost like… a Sith." Kyp Durron said.

            The entire Council Chamber went silent, taking it into consideration. "Impossible. Darth Vader and Palpatine were the last Sith," Fridu Klu, a Sullustan Master said in his broken accent.

            "For all we know, at least. But you must remember from the Holocrons I'm sure we have all read, Palpatine's dark beginnings began at a time when all Jedi assumed the Sith dead for a thousand years." Master Skywalker said.

            The Council went silent again. Much thinking was going into this meeting, Jacen could feel it.

            "My insights are of the same as yours," Corran said, but he shook his head in disbelief.

            The look disturbed Jaina. She knew when a Jedi Master like Corran couldn't believe their own insights, then something was definitely wrong. She stared out at the Coruscant skyline of tremendous buildings and beautiful architecture, wondering if the Dark Jedi could be on this planet. It was the only possible explanation.

            "Focus into this during your meditation sessions," Luke said. "We must find the location of this dark force. It may be a threat to the Jedi and the galaxy."

            "Should we inform the Senate?" Fridu Klu asked.

            Luke's closed eyes opened and stared at Fridu. "Master Klu, if we informed the Senate, everyone would try to use it to jump on for power. As ridiculous as it is we cannot inform our own government, politicians cannot be trusted. Not now, not ever. They are in for their own power."

            "I agree, Master Skywalker," Tenel Ka said, nodding her head and making her braided hair twitch. The rest of the council nodded their heads in obvious agreement.

"This meeting is dismissed, but if something new arises, you will be called." Luke stood up and walked out of the room slowly with his cane. The rest of the Council watched as he left and began to talk amongst themselves as the doors of the Council room shut. 

*           *           *

            "Perimeter patrol… I can't stand this job," Rassa Johnsoon said into her commlink to her wingman, Jim Bogaan.

            "I can second on that, Captain. There's no one to fight anymore. All I shoot out here is meteors," Bogaan said.

            Rassa laughed. They were great friends and had been copilots since they enrolled into the academy together. They had participated in some great starfighters shootouts, but Jim and Rassa were assigned to border patrol, because even in the seemingly endless trail of the criminal underworld, no pirates needed to be dealt with, it was as if the entire galaxy was at peace.

            Jim Bogaan enjoyed the peace of mind and freedom, but after seven hours of patrolling for the day, he wanted to engage something. He and Rassa always were great covering each other. Bogaan's mind wandered off as he piloted his craft.

            "This sector looks secure… Nothing here but a couple meteors," Rassa said, "Are you getting the same, Jim?"

            "Yeah… Wait a second!"

            "Something's coming out of hyperdrive near that nebula… Its about a hundred clicks out," Rassa reported, almost finishing Jim's sentence.

            "Let's check it out," Bogaan said, engaging higher speed sublight drives. He checked all of his monitors as he increased speed. His X-Wing fired forward, and followed Rassa. They went forward, and as they got closer to the beautiful mass of dust and stars, TIE fighters appeared.

            "Its nothing… just TIEs," Rassa said with a clear sigh of relief. But as soon as she stopped, laser fire crashed into her T75 X-Wing. "Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!" she screamed as more laserfire hit, blasting at her.

            "I'll cover you!" Bogaan yelled, flicking on the button for a distress signal. _I can't even see the target on my sensors!_ Five TIE Interceptors dove forward at them, and the sensors began to go nuts as they fired.

_Imperials?! We're at peace! What is this?!_

            The TIE fighters shot their green lasers at Bogaan, and he barrel-rolled out of the way. Rassa shot her fighter straight up and fired red-hot laser cannons at the Interceptor. The blasts dissipated. "Emperor's black bones! That thing has shields!" Rassa cried into her commlink.

            Bogaan ignored her comment, and then it began to seep in. "What?! That's crazy talk!" Bogaan replied, and fired his lasers. The blasts missed. He dove to the left, just in time before he nearly collided with a TIE. He shot to his upper left in an incredible evasive maneuver, and his battered X-Wing groaned. He got the TIE in the X-Wing's advanced targeting system's sights, and blasted it to space dust. Two of the TIEs opened their laser cannons at Rassa.__

The captain attempted to dive down, but she was hit, and her shields gave out. _She's a sitting duck!_ thought Bogaan, but it was too late.

            Laserfire struck Captain Johnsoon's ship. "All shields down… Bogaan! STOP THEM!!! AAAAAAAHHHH!" Rassa screamed, and it was her last breath as her hull overheated. She exploded in a burst of flame, rocking her fighter and blowing it to nothing but space dust.       

"RASSA!!!" he yelled. Rage and sadness billowed upon him, and he fired his laser cannons. It was a direct hit, but the lasers were absorbed!__

            "This is ridiculous!" he yelled to no one but himself as he approached the TIEs. The TIEs dove in again and fired another round of lasers, creating a gaping hole in the X-Wing's shield system. He flicked a switch and pressed the button on the gunning stick. Another set of superheated lasers streaked out of the cannons and at the TIEs. Once again, the blasts went to nothingness on the shields.

            _These shields are incredible… But who are they? And why did they kill Rassa?_ His anguish turned to anger as he fired rounds of lasers at the TIEs. The blasts all missed, and even the glancing hits did nothing against the advanced shield systems. He was shocked, scared, and had no clue what to do… He would have gone for his copilot for advice, but she had passed quicker than he did. A tear rolled down his cheek as he continued to fire at the TIEs. He couldn't believe it… His best friend in the world was gone.

            Of course, the T75 X-Wing models had upgraded power laser cannons and a proton torpedo launcher. It was all a standard starfighter needed… But obviously not in this case. _Lasers won't work on these guys unless I've got a whole squadron… But I can't use torpedoes! That's nothing short of insane…_

            Wasting expensive and powerful torpedoes on TIE interceptors didn't sound like a good idea to Bogaan. He had been drilled in school by his flight instructor Master Jaina Solo: torpedoes on other starfighters is like using a disruptor to vaporize a fly… And to most extents, it was true. _But here… Its my last hope._ "R6, prepare to jump to the rendezvous when I order," he said to his astromech counterpart, R6-7Y. 

Four interceptors still remained, firing round after round of bolts at Bogaan. He wiped the tears off his cheek and then flicked what most called the death switch: the one that heated up the torpedo launcher. Bogaan gritted his teeth. _I hope to Mon Mothma's grave this crazy thing works._ He then watched as the four interceptors engaged him together, again. He then got them in his sights and fired a pair of torpedoes. He wasn't planning on waiting around to see if he destroyed them. All he knew was that it got through their strong ray shields, because an explosion lit up as he did a sharp 180 degree turn. 

"R6, engage hyperdrive."

            With that order, the battered X-Wing, torn from combat, shot into the blue void of hyperspace. Jim knew he was incredibly lucky to be alive… He felt like he was being told another war story by his uncle back on Chandrila about the legendary Han Solo and his self-proclaimed 'luck'.

            Bogaan was in no mood for remembering his family, as they were all gone by now. Rassa had been his last connection to anything close to a family since he was fifteen years old. Jim got a hold of himself and watched the spinning blue abyss around him, his mind wandering to somewhere else.****


	2. Chapter 2

            "Sir, several Republic transports are heading towards the orbiting shipyards. Shall we test out the Star Destroyer IV model?" the recognizable face of Admiral Welsh said to Darth Zen.

            "Captain, I want nothing destroyed. Have our ships reel them in with a tractor beam, take the crew as prisoners, sort out the supplies, as we can use them, and bring the commanders of the ships to me." Zen said to the Admiral.

            "Yes, my lord."

            The holo-projector shut off and Zen picked Grand Admiral Pelleaon by his collar. Gilad Pelleaon was in his nineties, but the miracles of technology had kept him alive, commanding the Imperial fleet. He had been head of the fleet for almost forty years, and the Empire had been quite great under his command. 

The old, grayed Imperial commander had seen many evil, the Emperor, Vader… but Darth Zen seemed the most imposing. The dark brown cloak and the hood covering the thing's face reminded him of a hellish Emperor. His eyes glowed yellow under the cloak, and faded green skin of Zen's face poked out. Pelleaon was bloody and beaten down from Zen's hideous interrogation.

            "Admiral, I will give you one more chance to join the New Empire and spare your life."

            "Kill me, I am of old age. You are losing a great commander." Pelleaon said, spitting at Zen. The saliva was redirected by Zen's force powers across the room and onto the floor.

            "You do not deserve to command a ship with the Imperial seal." Zen pulled out his lightsaber and ignited it. The orange glow filled the darkly lit room. Zen pulled off his hood and revealed the face of a Falleen with a scar across his left eye. Zen stabbed his lightsaber into the old man, and the man shriveled down instantly, bloodied and dead.

            Zen put on a twisted, sadistic smile. _Your son is next, and then the Empire will be mine._

*           *           *

            "Commodore Jacksone. This is Flight Officer Jim Bogaan of Green Squadron, wingman of Green Leader. Green Leader has been lost… There was an attack by energy-shielded TIE fighters with an Imperial coded transmission, I will be back in several minutes…"

            The hologram then showed nothing. Ren Jacksone, a Commodore of the New Republic Navy, was a high-ranked commander with a lousy assignment. He couldn't believe his ears as Green Two spoke of shielded TIE fighters.

            "That's preposterous!" Jacksone said to the officers surrounding him on the Nebulon-B Escort Frigate's bridge.

            "Sir, we're getting Green Two on scanners." an officer said, pressing several buttons.

            "Turn on the commlink channel," Jacksone ordered. The face of Bogaan in his helmet appeared on the holoprojector. "Flight Officer, are you sure of what you saw?"

            "I am positive sir, I have scanner records on my fighter. Shall I send them coded?" Bogaan asked.

            "No send them decoded, Flight Officer," Jacksone sarcastically snapped back. His annoyance with this job was really showing through. His eyes widened as he saw the sensor scan appear on the holoprojector. He watched as two ships- definitely with ray shields- approached into the X-Wing's range. Their shape immediately recognized them as TIE interceptors- the standard of most Imperial ships. The shield's energy reading was tremendous.

"This is most likely a pirate fleet with stolen, modified ships, Flight Officer," Jacksone said, unbelieving Bogaan.

            "No sir, this was sending of an Imperial signal. I am sure of it, sir. It was a new one that Pelleaon had sent to Coruscant so we could identify his fleet. I watched on my scanners-"

            "Enough," Jacksone ordered. _No one knows those Imperial signals but Imperials. Pirates would have had to have a capital ship full of code-breakers for days to crack that transmission._

            "Commodore, do I have permission to speak?" Bogaan said as his fighter landed into the docking bay.

            "Yes, Flight Officer."

            "Despite his old age and many life-support systems, I believe Gilad Pelleaon is trying to take over the galaxy."

            "Bring the coordinates of that sector to me. We'll have our… if you can call it a fleet… investigate that area. Send an immediate red alert signal to Coruscant, Major." he said to another officer. A hologram of a New Republic official appeared.

            "Commodore Jacksone, your ship is on routine check. Why are you sending me a red alert message? I do not have time for-"

            Jacksone gave the official a cold, hard stare from his captain's chair. "We're having quite a disturbance out here. Imperial transmissions came from shielded TIE fighters that attacked two of our ships." Jacksone looked at the official again, and the official's eyes jumped open.

            "Impossible," he said reassuringly.

            "No. Don't give me that. My line of ships is orbiting the third planet in the Gamorr system, we've been out here for three weeks, and this is incredible. It is obvious that old man Pelleaon is trying to take over the New Republic. Your rank will go skyrocketing, your money will do the same, this is important!"

            A small bang rocked the ships. Beeps from control consoles went crazy, and the ship shook again.

            "We're under attack, sir!"

            "Coruscant, you better send someone out here if we don't make it!" the Commodore yelled as alarms began to screech. The hologram shut off.

            "Enemy report!" Commodore Jacksone demanded as he stood up, turning on the holoprojector, looking at the graph.

"Star Destroyers of an unknown type. They have thick armor, incredible shields…" his voice trailed off.

            "How many?" Jacksone said.

            "Sir, there's two Destroyers, two Carrack Cruisers and several small transports. Should I tell the fighters to launch?"

            _My god! All we have is an escort frigate and three Corvettes!_ "Launch the fighters with Bogaan as their leader. Tell them to take out the shield generators of the Destroyers, we should at least take out one of them before we run away and take this back to Coruscant."

            Officers pressed buttons quicker than the eye could see. "Bogaan, get back in your fighter. You're the leader of Green Squadron. Target the Destroyer's shields! Now go, go, go!" 

Bogaan heard it in his commlink instantly. He ran back to the fray of other pilots getting into their ships. His copilot R6-M7 beeped wildly as he practically dove into his X-Wing.

            "R6, are all systems go?" he asked, flicking the ignition switch. The droid beeped in a WHOO! fashion as the X-Wing shot out of the docking bay, with a squadron of X-Wings known as Green Squadron following right after him.

*           *           *

Admiral Seth Pelleaon, son of Gilad, was worried. As he watched from his personal Imperial Star Destroyer III, the _Punisher_, he knew he would never see his father again. He watched Bastion, the seat of the Imperial Remnant as the Destroyer orbited. He sighed. He had no idea what to do now. He was, after all, the highest ranking officer of any Imperial, but he had never had to deal with such a threat as the forces of the renegade Imperials that captured his father. The dark gray steel of the unknown Star Destroyers were superior to the Empire's ISD III model. And with his father gone, the Empire might not unify the way it had for so long.

            _The possibility of another warlord era in the history of the Empire will not happen. It mustn't, for an era like this could end the Empire._

            Pelleaon watched from his command chair. The rest of the Empire's highest commanders were on the _Punisher_, inside of the conference room. He sighed as he got up from his command chair. "I am attending to business."

            He walked into the turbolift, and he pressed the deck and room number of the conference room. He breathed in heavily, thinking about what we was going to say. The turbolift delivered him right in front of the door. He walked in, and many Admirals and other high-ranking Imperial officials were sitting, chattering. They stopped as he sat down and began his speech.

"Hello, my fellow men. As you all know, it is a day of sorrow. My father, Gilad Pelleaon, is presumably dead at the hands of a renegade Imperial warlord. His Star Destroyers he brought to attack this ship are incredible and, as much as I hate to admit this, our new Imperial Star Destroyer III model has less firepower than these presumably modified cruisers."

            Pelleaon paused, seeing several alarmed facial expressions. "However, the Empire has been based upon the ruler of one. First it was Emperor Palpatine. Then it was Grand Admiral Thrawn. My father succeeded Thrawn, and now that my father is gone, we must use his orders for the commander.

            "I know you all are confused, but my father said when he passed, the commander of the Empire would be the highest ranking officer of the Navy. His request would have brought Grand Admiral Jimmeth to the Head of the Empire spot, but his death defending our great leader has brought the burden upon me, Admiral Pelleaon to become Head of the Empire of the Empire and head of the Imperial fleet. Tell me your thoughts."

            All Admiral Pelleaon heard was applause from the commanders. He heard cries of 'Hail Pelleaon!'. He couldn't help but smiling. He was the new Head of the Empire.****


	3. Chapter 3

           Luke Skywalker walked down the hallways of the Jedi Temple. He looked out the transparisteel window, where he could look down upon Corusca City, the capital of the New Republic. Hover cars whizzed all around in traffic jams, honking. Luke sensed tension in them. He looked upon the skyscrapers, and even though Luke hadn't left Coruscant for what seemed like an eternity, it still was quite a sight to see so many buildings. Not far he saw Galactic Palace, which had once been the seat of Palpatine. Now it had become a government-run tourist attraction, which brought in massive funds used for diplomacy, building fleets in defense of Republic worlds and many other uses.

            Luke looked forward and saw one of his former students, Lowbacca, and C-3PO. Lowie was now a Jedi Knight, and although Lowie was a Jedi and non-violent unless forced, he could intimidate anyone he stood up to. His huge, over two meter figure and large lightsaber at his belt made him look like a fearsome warrior. He was a great member of the Jedi Order. Master Skywalker knew better, though. Lowie was a Jedi, and was at peace with force.

            "Why hello Master Luke!" C-3PO exclaimed, greeting Luke. "Lowbacca has been looking all over for you."

"Grrrrrr!" Lowbacca said to Luke.

            "Lowie wants to know what's going on with the 'Sith' situation," C-3PO said. "I'm not sure what he means, Master Luke, but-"

            "Threepio, don't repeat anything you hear in this room to anyone," Luke said. His divine influence worked great on anyone or anything, even droids. Although it was obvious 3PO would never betray his master's words, Luke's endless connection to the force gave him the knowledge of Yoda and the greatness of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even without mind tricks, everyone seemed to see Luke's way of things.

            "Yes, Master Luke. I would never disobey your word." Threepio said politely, and Luke smiled. "Thank you, Threepio."

            Lowbacca cried out several more times with various growls, barks and grunts, the standard Wookie language. "He wants to know how he can help investigate this," Threepio promptly stated.

            Luke nodded. "I will call the whole order to the audience chamber in a few hours. You will know when to come, Lowie."

            Lowie growled in agreement and walked away, lightsaber clanging against his belt. Luke looked at Lowie, and thought of Chewbacca. Luke smiled, remembering the friendship between Chewbacca and Han.

            _I wonder how Han's been doing with his illness,_ Luke thought. He reached deeply into the force and reached out, across Coruscant. He felt his twin sister Leia. She was at peace and calm. Her worry for her husband was obvious. He saw Han in great pain.

It was a new virus that was nearly impossible to treat. Radiation therapy was the last hope, and it still hadn't been slowing it down. Luke thought back many years ago when his wife died. He couldn't bring himself to see Han die like Mara, weak.

            Luke remembered his last memory of her, asking to take care of Ben. A surge of sadness swept over him, remembering her defending Ben to her death. 

Luke began to connect to his son and nephew, who were on Yavin Four, taking archaeological samples. Ben Skywalker enjoyed the study and history of civilizations with use of the Force, and a surge of happiness swarmed over him as he saw his young adult son pull a dirt sample into a portable scanner. _Ben, Anakin. You must return to Coruscant. A dark force is brewing, and your knowledge of the ancient Sith could help us._

            Luke opened his eyes, breaking the connection, positive that his son had heard his calls. The Force was incredible in his family, and although Luke had lost his love Mara, he wouldn't lose his friend Han. He pulled his mini-datapad from his belt. He punched in the elder Solo household number, and heard a beep as Leia responded.

            "Hello?" she said. Her voice was still calm and concise, even after her retirement years earlier as a diplomat.

            "Hello, Leia."

            "Luke! How have you been doing?" Leia asked

            "Oh, its been great. How is Han going?" Luke asked Leia into the speaker of the datapad.

            "He's in bed right now, I was just planning to go visit. Do you want to come?" Leia inquired.

            "I'd be delighted. I'll see if these old legs can still get me to a hovercar," Luke chuckled, and Leia did the same. "I'll see you there," Luke said, and switched the commlink off. He limped with his cane down the hall.

            Jaina Solo watched from far behind him, and was sad. She couldn't believe how weak her uncle really was. _If it wasn't for the Force, he'd be just like my dad, laying in bed._ She sighed, but was glad Luke was very alive, even if his physical condition wasn't top shape.

*           *           *

            "Shield generators for the bridge are near the garbage chute! Green Squadron, fire torps NOW!" Bogaan yelled into his commlink. Laser cannon fire from the Carrack Cruisers shot at Green Squadron, and pilots dove out of the way. Torpedoes from nearly all of the X-Wings aimed straight through the shields and blew the garbage chute to oblivion.

            "Green Leader, their particle shields are up as well as their ray shields!"

            "Impossible… those things don't have that much energy!" Bogaan cried, and he fired two more torpedoes, directly at what looked like power generators. They dissipated against the shields, exploding on impact.

            "My lord… On the grave of Mon Mothma, that is the most powerful thing I've ever laid eyes upon!" Bogaan cried, and heard the scream of Green Five. "Green Five?"

            _He's gone,_ Bogaan thought. Sadness crept over him, but his senses stayed alert as the mysterious Star Destroyer launched squadron after squadron of TIEs and Interceptors. "Green Squadron, these may be the guys with shields," Bogaan stated grimly, his face tightening.

            "Let's find out!" Green Eleven cried, and put his X-Wing into full thrust, firing laser cannons at a TIE. The blasts did not damage the craft.

            "I told you! We've got to get out of here! These ships are too powerful for us to fight!" Bogaan ordered, but he soon noticed only he, Green Ten, and Green Twelve remained. "R6, get us back to the command ship!"

            He beeped and whistled out a readout. Their systems were no longer under their control. "Tractor beams," Green Twelve muttered.

            A human face came across Bogaan, Green Twelve and Green Ten's message screen. "You are now property of the New Empire, as is your fleet. You will be interrogated if you do not wish to reveal secrets of the New Republic to us. I am Admiral Welsh, and I hope you do remember my face, bottom of the level scum. I am the first of a great breed of Second Order officers. You will reveal all, or the New Empire's face will haunt all of your nightmares forever."

            A man in a dark hood walked in front of the screen, and Bogaan jumped in his seat. The deep voice came from the hood, and Bogaan was immediately terrified. The hooded thing's glowing eyes closed, and then opened. "Yes, be afraid of me. Let your fear guide you. With my fleet at my command, I will hammer your Republic and all of your allies, including the weak Imperial Remnant, to nothing but space dust. Who is the leader of your escapade?" The hooded figure demanded.

            Bogaan's eyes narrowed. "I am the leader of this squadron."

            "Annihilate the others," the figure ordered, and before Bogaan even processed what he said, laser cannons shot the X-Wings into nothingness.

            "You! You're a fool. The New Republic fleet could defend the whole galaxy without problem. Your little escapade is just like all the other criminal organizations' that have tried the New Republic's patience!" Bogaan spit out in rage at the figure.

            "I will no longer take this idiocy. I will personally interrogate the scum!" The figure said, and the transmission faded to black as the X-Wing was docked. Bogaan fiddled with his DL-60 Heavy Blaster Pistol. He pulled a power pack off his belt and shoved it in as the cockpit opened. He jumped out and two seemingly stormtroopers, but with black armor and large blaster rifles, fired at Bogaan. He ducked down and shot at the troopers, taking one to the ground. Laserfire zapped his X-Wing and he got up again, firing a direct hit on the trooper.

            The dark figure then appeared in the docking bay. Wearing a dark brown cloak, it almost looked like an incredibly tall Jedi. He fired six times, but the figure held up a reptilian-looking hand and deflected the blasts easily. They created black scorch marks in the wall.

            "You will tell me why you are here," the figure ordered.

            "I'll never tell you anything!" Bogaan yelled.

            "You will tell me why you are here," the figure ordered, but this time with a wave of his hand, obviously attempting a mind trick.

            "What do you think you are, a Jedi? Your mind tricks-"

            "Cease your talking. I am Darth Zen, and you now will obey me," Zen said calmly, but with a hint of anger.

            "I'd rather die!"

            "SO BE IT!" Zen yelled in rage, and he pulled out his lightsaber and ignited the fluorescent orange-blade. Bogaan dove out of the way. He knew anyone trained with a lightsaber he couldn't challenge. He fired his blaster, and the bolt was deflected easily, bouncing off Zen's blade of pure energy.

            Jim tried again, but the power pack was out. He threw the blaster at Zen's head. Darth Zen laughed as he chopped the blaster into two pieces. Sparks flew across the floor. Zen then raised his lightsaber inches from Bogaan's throat. "I love seeing my enemies in pain… Like your New Republic ships outside of this command vessel. They are being boarded and taken over by my men as we speak."

            "The New Republic will hear of this! You will be destroyed!" Bogaan yelled in a furious cry, as the black troopers locked his wrists behind him with stun cuffs.

            Zen went into a whisper, pushing his face out of his cloak. "The New Republic has nothing that can work against my shielded TIEs, my Star Destroyer Four models with superior armor and energy production. My stormtroopers are supplemented with what I call ASTs, advanced stormtroopers: black-armored troopers with incredible skill and weaponry. My forces are superior to anything ever thought of, and I didn't even fund this little fleet I'm creating… I am far too powerful for anyone in the New Republic, or the rest of this galaxy to deal with!"

            "You ordered those TIEs… YOU KILLED HER!" Jim jumped backwards, out of reach of Zen's lightsaber.

            Zen took down his hood, and stormtroopers and Imperial officers alike gasped as the Falleen's face was revealed. The scar over his left eye was intimidating at the very least. Zen reached out with the force and unhooked the stun cuffs. He instead began to pull into the motor movements of Jim. He cried out as his body was controlled by another. _I can't control my own movements!_

            "You know too much already, pilot. You will die here." Zen beckoned him closer, and put his arm with an incredible grip on Jim's collar. He pressed the button on his wrist commlink.

            "Goodbye, R6." With those words, the X-Wing's power core overloaded and the starfighter exploded, rocking the docking bay.

            Everyone was taken aback, and Zen dove backwards to protect himself. It was Jim's chance! He grabbed Zen's deactivated lightsaber on the ground and hooked it to his belt. _This will work too,_ he thought as he picked up a blaster rifle from a fallen stormtrooper. He shot his way down the docking bay. He knew he had to get to the communication station of the Destroyer to transmit to Coruscant. _My two years of experience in the Imperial Navy are going to be paying off right now,_ he thought.

*           *           *

            "Luke Skywalker! I never thought I'd see a man like you here," Han Solo said. Luke shook hands with his old friend, who was lying in bed. "What have you been doing lately?"

            "Working with the Council, like usual," Luke said, still smiling. "What have you been doing?" Luke tried not to show any sign of concern for Han, just in politeness.

            "Ah… sitting around here. My days for the New Republic are over, as you probably guessed."

            _Its hard not to, he looks so weak._ Luke tapped into Han's body. He felt the foreign virus inside, and it was making Han extremely weak. It shocked him what a great presence the organism had made, he hadn't seen anything like it in a long time.

            "Master Skywalker?" Luke turned around and smiled. Leia wasn't even calling him by his own name anymore. "Would you like something to drink?"

            "That's alright. I'm fine." Luke said. _But Han sure isn't_.

            "I'm not," Han said in a serious tone. "The doctors tell me I only have two weeks to live…" Han's face went into sadness. "But I've known it was coming. My body, after all that smuggling, hiding, fighting… its too weak to fight it well. I'm not scared though, I've done enough for this galaxy."

            "That is for sure," Luke said. "You flew me out of situations I thought I was going to die in. You and the _Millenium Falcon_ flew us all across the galaxy and back, and somehow, that ship survived everything."

            "Where is she anyway, Leia?" Han said, in his creaky old tone.

            "Its on display at the Galactic Museum a couple blocks down. Its brought in immense funds for Republic's military defense," Leia stated in her collected, 'diplomatic' tone.

            "Heh… She's a great ship," Han said weakly.

            Luke smiled weakly. He felt horrible seeing his brother-in-law in such awful condition. "Well, I would stay longer, but the Council has much we have to address," Luke said.

            "That's alright, Luke," Han said as Luke headed for the door.

            "Goodbye," he turned around and waved at Han and Leia, and then stepped into the turbolift of their house.

*           *           *

            Ben Skywalker's longish brown hair that barely covered his ears shone in the intense reflection of sunlight off of Yavin. Ben was only a teenager, but he knew how to fly a ship, and his father trusted him in being adventurous, because Luke was adventurous when he was a teenager. Ben was interested in studying history and archeology of the ancient Jedi Knights. 

He himself was Anakin Solo's Padawan apprentice. Anakin was only a few feet away. He ignited his lightsaber and with incredible precision, sliced off a cluster of yellow berries like he was cutting through butter. Every berry was untouched. Ben was amazed. "How'd you do that?"

            Anakin pulled four small berries off and popped them into his mouth as he spoke. "Lots and lots of training with the lightsaber. It is a Jedi's second line of defense, after all."

            "Second?" Ben asked skeptically. "I don't understand. A lightsaber is what makes a Jedi."

            "No, my young Padawan. The first is the Force. If you can use a mind trick or manipulate objects to defend yourself or others, you will not cause a scene with your lightsaber. If manipulation through the force or mind tricks do not work, then the lightsaber can be used. But never for attack. That is the way of the dark side."

            "I understand," Ben said simply. Anakin knew Ben meant it, though. Ben was like Luke: he could make things sound simple without meaning to.

            "We better start get going… Especially after Luke's call earlier. He sounds pretty serious," Anakin stated, staring at the giant gas ball of Yavin.

            "Alright, I guess so," Ben said reluctantly, "But we did find a lot of this interesting stuff here, though. What do you think it's from?" Ben asked his teacher.

"Those artifacts are of a great dark force. Many young students of the past have been tempted to the dark side by the evil spirits here," Anakin said dryly.

            "Like Master Durron?" Ben asked.

            "My young Padawan, that will not be spoken of here or anywhere in this galaxy. Master Durron is completely at calm with the Force," Anakin assured him, with the slightest bit of disapproval.

            "I understand, Master." Ben picked up their bag of stone artifacts and such and began to bring them back to the _Serenity_, Anakin Solo's personal Jedi transport. It was mainly used for diplomacy, but was fitted with many research and science modifications and sensors. It was a modified SoroSuub freighter, and its speed and maneuverability were at incredible levels. Its armor was as average as any ship, but its shield generators, modified by Anakin himself, created a shield as powerful as those of a Mon Calamari 120's shield system.

            The ship had been used by Anakin now for only about a year, and was spotless to any type of damage. Anakin's excellent use of electronics and the Force allowed him to make great modifications. Anakin pulled the controller out of his belt and pressed a button, making a sliding sound as the boarding ramp extended downward. The ramp made almost an exhaling sound as it touched the humid and wet grass of Yavin 4. Ben walked up the ramp and headed toward the research laboratory in the back of the ship.

            Anakin put the controller back on his belt as he walked up the ramp. The ramp slowly began to close, and Anakin walked through the winding hallways of the ship to the front. The ship reminded him of his father's _Millennium Falcon_. It was different in design, of course, but it was sturdy and had great emotional value attached to it. Anakin arrived at the cockpit. It was full of buttons, switches, levers, and all kinds of computer panels, but Anakin knew what every button did. He sat down in the pilot's seat, and pulled a commlink off a computer panel.

"Ben, are you ready for lift-off?" Anakin asked.

            "Always, Master."

            "Alright then, put on your restraining strap," Anakin said, and powered up the engines. The ship slowly left the ground, creating a loud sound that deafened nearby animals and creatures of Yavin 4. The ship then shot into the air, beginning its descent out of the atmosphere and soon Coruscant.****


	4. Chapter 4

TSEEEEEW! The red blaster bolt shot straight at the stormtrooper's chest. Scorch marks instantly appeared, and the trooper fell back, injured or worse. Jim felt no compassion for any Imperials any more. _Zen and his black troopers can all die. His thirst for power is ludicrously out of proportion._

            Jim crept down a hallway. His escape from Darth Zen and the Imperials earlier had not exactly helped him. Before, just the troopers in the docking bay knew he was a threat. Now he had the whole Star Destroyer- _Or is it a Star Destroyer? It looks like one, but the dark gray armor is so powerful- and different from the other Destroyers I've seen_.

            "His name's Bogaan. No, but he's taken down a whole squad so far. Okay, good."

            Jim listened in on the stormtrooper's conversation. He watched as a squad of troopers walked down the hallway, right about to turn and see him. He hid behind a pipe, looking through a narrow slit and pointing the E-11 Blaster Rifle. The squad began to walk by the pipe. He was very nervous and perspiration began to drip down his forehead. _If they find me here, there's no way out._ His knee suddenly slipped and hit the wall, creating a loud CLANG. _Oh, great. Just great._

            "What was that?" one stormtrooper asked. A blaster bolt sounded, and Jim jumped out, firing wildly. Bolts sizzled through the air and steamed, creating char marks on the hallway walls of the Destroyer. Jim focused his eyes, and realized that Commodore Jacksone and several other officers and troopers were the ones shooting! Happiness swept over him as the last stormtrooper fell victim to a blaster bolt.

            "How did you escape?" Bogaan asked Jacksone.

            "They took us as prisoners, but we blasted out the detention block. The ships are all gone, and looks like you're the only escaped fighter pilot…" Jacksone's voice trailed off in realization.

            "They're all dead," Jim confirmed.

            "That may be true, but we have to get out of here," another officer said. Murmurs of agreement arose, and Jacksone began to walk stealthily around the hallways, and the others followed him.

            "We're going the wrong way," Jim said.

            "How do you know?" Jacksone questioned him.

            "I've been in the Imperial Navy before," Jim said.

            "Huh," another officer sniffed. Jim gave him a dirty look. "Listen, the communication station is this way," he pointed. The other officers, although protesting, followed him through the halls.

*           *           *

            "I want all of them dead!" Zen shouted. The first lieutenant to which he was speaking trembled in terror. "Our troopers are on full search, it will not be long. But sir, may I inquire?"

            "Yes?" Zen asked, his eyebrow raised.

            "If we captured them alive, we may be able to find out many secrets of the Republic."

            "I have pondered that very fact, Lieutenant. However, my spies, although most of them have died in their service, have given me more information that I need. You must remember Lieutenant, I was with the Imperial Remnant for fifteen years. That is fifteen entire years I had to plan out my New Empire. Once I became Vice Admiral, my attack on the Remnant was inevitable. And you, First Lieutenant Gordon, your long service in the New Imperial Army has left me no choice but to promote you all the way up to Colonel, if you bring me the dead bodies of all of the escaped Rebels." Zen knew the thirst for power always kept all of the New Imperial's armed forces in line.

            "I understand, my lord." Gordon walked away, knowing that he had to get that position. The doors of Zen's personal quarters closed. Zen reached over to a panel and switched the doors to locked. It was now that Zen would decide what system to conquer first. He would have brought Admiral Welsh up for the fun decision, but he knew that Welsh was busy with commanding the _Knight_, the Star Destroyer they resided in.

            Zen reached into his cabinet and pulled out a round ball that held a holomap of the galaxy in its entirety. He put the ball into a projector and Zen pressed some buttons, showing him the two-dimensional map. His current position was near Gamorr. The section of the Outer Rim where his fleet was stationed had no great places of power.

            He wanted the first impression on the New Republic to be lasting, but not to show the extent of his true power. _Ahh… Hutt Space_. His twisted Falleen face warped into a sick smile. _The slugs rely on others for their dirty work. With slaves and technicians from Nar Shaddaa, my fleet would be invincible_.

            "Computer, tell me what my fleet contains," he asked his advanced computer control system as he switched his holo-displays to show Nal Hutta in orbit.

            "Lord Zen, your fleet consists of two Star Destroyer II models, three Star Destroyer IV models, five Carrack Cruisers and two Inderdictor Cruisers," the computer responded in a sincere tone.

            "What about the Republic ships?" he asked, putting his hand on his chin.

            "The Nebulon-B is destroyed, but the Corellian Corvettes are being filled with officers as I relay you this data."

            "You are quite an excellent computer system," Zen said as he shut it off. He picked a small commlink off his desk. He punched in the transmission for Admiral Welsh's personal commlink.

            Welsh was on the bridge of the _Knight_ of course, in the commanding chair. All around him officers relayed, sent and gathered information from the HoloNet and other places, all typing to project the illusion they are working hard, even if they are not. The Admiral's commlink beeped. He looked at the display panel, and recognized it as Darth Zen's commlink. He pressed the transmit button.

            "What is it, my lord?" Welsh asked.

            "Admiral, order transmissions to be sent to the rest of the fleet. They will rendezvous here," Zen ordered.

            "May I ask where our first attack will be?" Welsh inquired.

            "Hutts are disgusting and weak creatures. Nal Hutta will be our first target. I will discuss it in a meeting later. You will be called. Zen out."

            _Nal Hutta… I see what Lord Zen's plan is. The Hutts will never call for the New Republic's help, even if it means the destruction of their planet. They see all but themselves weak, inferior. By the time we've conquered all of Hutt Space, the New Republic will think we have disappeared. When their guard is down, we strike. Lord Zen is not only powerful, he is quite the military strategist._

*           *           *

            "Men and women of the _Serpent_!" Admiral Pelleaon called out to the bridge of his new Star Destroyer III. Officers looked back at him of every size, shape, alien race and gender. Palpatine's rule of only human males in the Imperial Military was thought ridiculous by recent Imperial warlords. Pelleaon himself found surrounded by just an equal amount of everything. He thought nothing of it, and he knew his rule of the Empire was no doubt going to be flawless.

            "Set course for the Gamorr system. It is there that pretender Zen keeps is keeping his fleet," Pelleaon ordered, and officers immediately set the navicomputers. Pelleaon watched from his command chair as his fleet of five other Star Destroyers and two Carrack Cruisers all launched into hyperspace. Then, the _Serpent_ launched as the last ship, leaving behind the planet of Bastion, and soon, the Remnant borders.

*           *           *

            Master Luke Skywalker sat down in his chair. He was in the Jedi Temple's main chamber. Here, the entire Jedi order could gather for meetings on certain issues. Luke remembered when he was younger, fighting for the approval of the Senate. Now, some didn't like the Jedi, thinking they brought disaster and their intentions were conceited. However, most citizens thought the Jedi were defenders of freedom and peace. _Which is the truth, finally_, Luke thought.

            Jedi were diplomats and defenders, not warriors. However, when it came to Sith, like Master Skywalker was sure he felt, he knew something would have to be done. Sith used the Dark Side of the Force, and when it came into the hands of power-hungry men… _Like Palpatine or my father…_ It did horrible things. Luke would stop at nothing to halt whatever this dark force was.

            Luke had already called the Jedi to a great meeting. _This room will be bustling with Padawans, Jedi Knights and Masters._ Master Skywalker hadn't called a meeting of this magnitude since the organization Tycoon attempted a takeover of Coruscant. Luke felt users of the Force all around, coming to the meeting. He watched as the doors of the room slid open with a _hisssss_. In walked names that were not taken lightly: the remaining 8 members of the Jedi Council, twins Jacen and Jaina Solo, Kyle Katarn and Luke estimated about two hundred other Jedi Knights, Masters in active duty, and Padawans combined.

            Luke was proud of the order he had created. In 44 years, he had about 225 Jedi, and many more in training. The Jedi Order had been restored somewhat to its past glory in the Old Republic. The defensive ways of the Jedi were quite a helping hand to the seemingly constant state of feuds and cold wars. _This situation is much more serious than a dispute._ He watched as the Council walked up the steps on the stage and sat in chairs in front of their amplification microphones.

            Luke picked up his as the rest of the Order took seats around the many five-person tables. The many Jedi murmured to each other as Luke picked up his amplification mic. Luke cleared his throat and began. "I welcome you to another meeting of the Jedi Order." The room went complete silent with that. Everyone's eyes focused on Master Skywalker.

            "I have bid all of the Jedi Order except for two that are coming back with archaeological samples from Yavin IV. These may help us uncover some secrets of the Sith. Recently, I guess you have all felt at least small samples of the dark force." Whispers echoed throughout the room. "The Council and I have meditated on this, and we see something with great power. This is quite alarming, because it would be nice to believe Darth Vader and Palpatine were the last Sith. If this is not the case, we must give up our duty as ambassadors to possibly negotiate with whatever the dark force is. If we are met with anger, we must defend ourselves and the rest of the galaxy."

            The Jedi all began to talk amoungst themselves. A Mon Calamari named Wackaw yelled out, "But isn't hunting down the way of the dark side of the Force?" Whispers and murmurs continued and Luke Skywalker raised his hand for silence. He scratched his head full of old, graying hair and leaned on his wooden cane, picking up the mic. 

"Wackaw, we are not hunting. We will not seek to kill. If possible, if we can turn him to the light side of the Force, the galaxy will have a great defender. We are not tyrants or hunters, and none of the Jedi ever be." _Hissss_. Every Jedi in the room turned around in their chairs to look at the door.

            The doors of the chamber opened, and in walked in a middle-aged but beautiful woman, with flowing red hair and very pale, almost stark white skin. "Master Skywalker and all Jedi. There is an emergency you must be alerted of… Patrol ships in the Gamorr system have disappeared to what they call shielded TIE fighters sporting an Imperial code. The Senate and the Armed Forces Council have requested the help of you. Your insight through the Force could help us greatly with investigation."

            Luke put his hand on his chin, thinking. "It is done. Vorsk and Xenio Tri'luk, do you accept this mission?"

            Vorsk, a Twi'lek stood up and bowed. "It is an honor to have my apprentice and I on a mission of this proportion."

            "Then may the force be with you," Luke said, and with that Vorsk and his human apprentice walked out. As soon as the military spokeswoman and the Jedi had left the room, everyone's attention was turned to Master Corran Horn of the Jedi Council as he stood up from his chair.

            "Master Skywalker, I do believe the dark force has ties that run deep. If the ID transponder on the ships in the Gamorr system said the TIEs sported an Imperial code, this Sith… or shall we say, 'dark side user', may be attempting a takeover of the Empire. Dark side users have a great tendency for being power hungry," Corran stated, scratching his shaved head.

            "Quite an excellent view," Luke said. "However, we cannot allow ourselves to believe anything until we have felt it through the Force," he stated. Fridu Klu interrupted in his broken Basic accent.

            "Master Skywalker and the rest of Jedi- we must unify for this type of investigaaaaation. I say we send more with Vorsk and his Padawan," Master Klu said, stuttering and struggling with the words of Basic.

            "I agree," a Jedi with shoulder-length black hair said. The same followed with many, and Luke once again raised his hand, calling for silence. The room went quiet.

            "I will gather many for this journey. One Knight and Padawan will not do something this big in proportion justice. I myself am going to see this new Imperial attack. I need volunteers for this mission." With those words, everyone in the room began talking their part, all at once. Luke smiled as he began to pick members out of the Council and the room full of Jedi. He was sure a group of Jedi would do the part.

*           *           *

            Supreme Admiral Susan Resk, leader of the New Republic Navy, was beautiful, young and when need be, her strategies were deadly. As she sat in the command room of the Armed Forces building on Coruscant, she still could not believe Imperials were attacking New Republic ships. Their peace agreement had lasted for thirty years, and now… _Why is the Remnant breaking it?_ _Pelleaon has to be crazy… There is no way they could possibly imagine of beating the New Republic military_. As cocky as Susan thought she sounded, she knew it was only the truth. The Mon Calamari 120 models were the biggest battlecruisers in the galaxy, with countless turbolasers, many squadrons of fighters… Nothing could match them except for a Super Star Destroyer, and Gilad Pelleaon had self-destructed the last one ever created to finish off the Yuuzhan Vong many years ago.

            _I myself watched the plans of the Super Star Destroyer be locked up forever, to keep away from warlords. So what is old man Pelleaon trying to pull?_ Thoughts shot through her head like a wildman's projectiles hunting Corellian sand panthers. She had no idea how something this… she could even think of a word… ridiculous- could happen._ If I wanted, I could send three MC cruisers out to Bastion and destroy the rest of his fleet._

            BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. The annoying buzzing sound began its infinite loop. A communications officer turned around to face Susan, who was watching a transparisteel panel of recent Imperial activity, showing ships with red dots across the small galactic map. "Admiral, there is a communication coming from Imperial Admiral Seth Pelleaon. Would you wish to speak with him?"

            Resk took her eyes off the panel. "Yes, transmit to the main holograph room immediately." She walked out of the communications room and turned to her left and walked down a moderate ramp to the holograph rook. The main holographic projector was the size of a small officer's quarters and could project most creatures life size. As the olive-skinned and black haired Supreme Admiral looked upon the dark with streaks of gray, curly hair of Seth Pelleaon, she saw innocence in his eyes.

            "Admiral, I demand to know why you and your father have shot down a Republic escort frigate and a fighter pilot!" Resk exclaimed, slamming her fist on the holocam control panel.

            "I expected this kind of reaction. Milady, it was not a sanctioned attack by my fleet or any of the Imperial Remnant. There is a separatist officer named Zen that several weeks ago appeared from hyperspace. His ship had been lost for months, and he returned with a new kind of Star Destroyer with dark armor… We have never seen it before, but his three new Destroyers and two of the standard Imperial 2 model attacked my father's flagship. He destroyed the ship, captured my father and I am presuming his death. I called to ask for New Republic support. He is a menace, and if his ludicrous plans are not foiled, he could be a threat to the Remnant and Republic alike. You are nothing but our allies, Admiral Resk. Please assist us, I beg you." Pelleaon pleaded, putting his hands at his sides.

            "I salute you-" Resk put her hand on her forehead in a salute, "for calling through the HoloNet to tell the Republic of the truth. I will inform the Senate and the military. I am sure the Armed Forces Council will approve of sending forces, however the Senate may not. I am not one to listen or care for the opinions of politicians, and unless we declare war, the armed forces do not need the Senate's weak opinions," Susan said, showing great pride for the Navy.

            Pelleaon could not help grinning. "I believe my father would approve of your dislike of military decisions made by politicians… I bid you farewell, and if possible, contact me with the Republic's decision."

            "I will, Admiral. Good day." With that, she shut off the holograph and walked straight into a dark figure with black robes. She looked up at the dark figure above her, heart pounding.

            "Hello, Admiral," Master Skywalker said, and she smiled.

            "I greet you, Master Skywalker. If you would tell your Jedi, see the Imperial-"

            "I listened to the whole conversation, Admiral. I will tell my Jedi this. However, a representative of you recently asked Jedi to help investigate the Imperial forces. I wish to know if I may send more than two Jedi to investigate, as something important has arisen."

            "It would be an honor. How many more than two do you wish?" Susan asked.

"Six was the number I was looking for," Luke said, smiling. Susan returned the smile at the old man.

            "Excellent. Who besides Vorsk and his Padawan?"

            "Ahhh, yes. It will be Master Tenel Ka, Master Uzbakh, Lowbacca, my son Ben Skywalker, Anakin Solo and I."

            The surprise showed obvious on Resk's face when she head the I at the end. Luke Skywalker hadn't been in active duty for some time, it was rumored he was too old. This was far from the truth. Despite his withered appearance, Master Skywalker could use the Force to balance without his cane, and could do things as well as a twenty-five year old could by using the Force. He chose not to do this, but to live among his old peers.

            "It will be done. You will stationed aboard the _Underthrive_, a Mon Calamari cruiser. Report tomorrow morning." She felt very awkward giving orders to a Jedi Master.

Luke smiled. "We'll be there, Admiral."****


	5. Chapter 5

            "Where is your fleet headed?" Jim asked the high-ranking officer.

            "You will kill me first!"  
            Jim jabbed his blaster into the brown-haired, middle-aged Captain's head violently again. "I'm not going to ask you again. If you value your life and your future power in this… Imperial… navy, then you will tell me where your fleet is headed."

            The rest of the troopers surrounded the small back room of the Star Destroyer, checking for stormtroopers every second. "I will… tell you…you must… get off of me!"

            Jim let his vicious headlock go for a second, but Commodore Jacksone pinned the officer down with his rifle. Jim then pulled the lightsaber he took from Darth Zen out and ignited it, creating a glowing _hummmmm_. He put it right up to the officers throat. "Where is your fleet going?" he asked again.

            "Alright, I'll tell you. We are going to Nal Hutta…"

            "The Hutts? What a waste. No matter, if you're lying, you'll die soon."

            _CRASH! Another prisoner was slid into the metal-floored room. A trooper put a blaster to his head. "Imperial, where is your fleet going?"_

            This prisoner, however was Admiral Welsh, and the captain being threatened felt a great sense of danger but happiness. If he survived and Welsh died, he would be in command of the _Knight and possibly the entire New Imperial fleet. _

"I will tell! We are headed to… eh… Yavin IV."

            "He lies!" the Captain spit. "We are headed to Nal Hutta!"

            "How did you find out?!" Welsh cried in shock, and soon regretted it. His face of horror was just met with smiles of the surrounding Republic troopers.

            "Thanks for confirming the underground location," Jim Bogaan said, taking the stun cuffs off the captain and putting them on the Admiral. He smashed the handle of the lightsaber into the Admiral's head, knocking him down, presumably unconscious. The captain then pulled off his Imperial uniform, to reveal he was a trooper like the others. The Republic troops laughed but immediately went quiet, heading out to the hallways and across the hall to the communications room.

            Jim typed in a locking code, and the doors of the room shut immediately and locked. They turned around to be met with officers typing at stations. The troopers fired their blasters at the officers, and they went down immediately. The console beeped, showing an incoming message.

            "Comm Station 1, what's going on? I'm sending two squads down there…"

            Jacksone, quick thinking, pressed the button for return call. "Uh… negative. We've had a ummm… blaster exploded, it haywired some comm. systems. The situation is a bit dangerous, and the squads may be injured."

            "Rebels!"

            "Rontonuts!" the Commodore spit into the commlink.

            Jacksone shut off the comm switch. "Bogaan, you better have the Holo to Coruscant ready _real soon."_

            Jim was doing just that, and the HoloNet transceiver flicked to life, showing a New Republic message recipient. "Listen up Coruscant. Right now we are hacking out of an unknown type of Imperial Star Destroyer's comm system. This message cannot reach outside of the room you are in. Tell only Supreme Admiral Resk, General Kanorr and Supreme General Darklighter. Our Senate may not know this information."

            "I understand. Who captured you and the patrol ships?" the young male officer asked.

            "His name is Darth Zen. He is a Dark Lord of the Sith, much like Vader or Palpatine. He has advanced stormtroopers to supplement his regular troopers. He has shielded TIE fighters and a new type of Star Destroyer with superior shielding and armor… You MUST tell the Military Council of this."

            "Emperor's black bones… that's… is it true?" the officer gasped with a shocked look on his face.

            "Its all true, buddy. Soon the Star Destroyer's gonna be headed into hyperdrive to take out Nal Hutta. I guess they figure they'll start small. But listen! The military has to send some ships to Nal Hutta soon to intercept this fleet," Jim demanded.

            "That couldn't be done. The Hutts would shoot down a Mon Calamari cruiser as soon as it came into orbit," the officer said.

            "I never thought of that… However, they will not welcome any Imperial… or New Imperial, as the officers on the ship seems to call this little fleet, ships to their atmosphere. I don't know, but send something out here. We're gonna try to get off this ship as soon as we can," Jim said, and their was a zapping sound on the locked door of the room. "Well, we're about to be discovered, goodbye Coruscant," Bogaan flipped it off and then pulled Darth Zen's lightsaber off his belt.

            "What are you doing with that?" a female trooper asked. Jim just smiled, ignited the bright orange blade. He sliced through machinery like butter, and sparks and wires flew everywhere.

            "We are making a shield," he said simply, cutting through the machinery. The other troopers began to help by positioning the durasteel panels together. Jim then put the lightsaber near two separate panels, melting the metal and joining many panels together. Soon, they had a large shield erected. The door blasted open finally, and stormtroopers, clanging with their loud boots, came inside.

            "Where are they?" a stormtrooper asked another.

            "Go," Jacksone ordered. The Republic troopers jumped up and fired wildly, taking the stormtroopers by surprise. The stormtroopers fired back, but by this time, blaster bolts were already in mid-flight. Two more stormtroopers went down, and only four remained. Jim then ducked low behind the shield and ignited Zen's lightsaber. He got back up and threw it wildly. It sliced a trooper from right gut to left, leaving a blackened, sizzling bloody mess. Another stormtrooper went down, but the fire got one Republic trooper right in the head.

            Jim and Jacksone alike flinched, but continued firing with the rest of their squad. They took down the last two troopers. "Now let's get ourselves a shuttle."

*           *           *

            Luke Skywalker, decked in his black Jedi robes, slowly walked towards the rest of the Jedi that were to go on the mission to the Gamorr system. He kept his happiness of being in active duty like he had most of his life to himself. He looked ahead of him, and saw Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Uzbakh and Threepio.

            "Threepio, you're coming with us too?" Luke asked him.

            "Master Luke! You look better than ever. Lowbacca requested I join him as the protocol droid, as Em-Teedee was left back on Kashyyyk last time Lowbacca visited his family." Threepio said in his clear, calm and pleasant voice.

            "Well that's great," Luke said, nodding to Threepio. He walked forward with his cane, and followed the Jedi and Threepio up the boarding ramp of the small freighter that would transport them to the _Underthrive, which was in orbit of Coruscant._

            Luke walked through the halls and saw several rows of benches with restraining belts. He sat down on a bench across from Uzbakh and Lowbacca. Lowbacca growled in happiness at Master Skywalker.

            "Lowbacca greets you and welcomes you back to active duty," Threepio translated.

"I thank you, Lowie. But what I need to know is where my nephew and son are…" Luke voice trailed off, but then heard a pair of boots clang against steel. Into the room walked in Ben Skywalker, who's Jedi robes were covered in oil and dirt. He sat down and sighed as Anakin Solo, Jedi Master, walked in after him.

            "I apologize for our tardiness. Mister Skywalker here thought he could fix the hyperdrive of the _Serenity, and his ahem… technical expertise caused us several delays. Artoo helped fix it a bit, but it caused an unnecessary delay. My cousin and Padawan has learned a lesson," Anakin deadpanned, and the rest of the Jedi couldn't help breaking into laughter. Then aboard the transport rolled R2-D2._

            "Artoo! Oh my dear, I am so glad to see you. I was afraid I was going to be alone on this horrid mission!" Threepio cried out. Artoo beeped his whistles and toots in response. "Scaredy bantha! I never-"

The loud screech of the transport's boarding ramp as it began to retract drowned out Threepio. The ship lifted off, slowly at first, but gaining speed, launching into the skies of Coruscant.

*           *           *

            "Nal Hutta?! We can't send New Republic forces there! My men are not gonna like this one bit-" Supreme General Gavin Darklighter began to say, but was cut off by the hand of Admiral Susan Resk.

            "General, with all due respect, we are not invading Hutt Space. We are simply trying to eliminate, or negotiate, as the Jedi are attempting now, this renegade and his fleet before matters become serious. If it involves action near the Hutts and their crime worlds, I couldn't care less," the young woman firmly stated.

            General of the Army Y'suk Kannor stood up in his chair. The light brown-skinned Twi'lek twitched his _lekku, the tentacles sticking out of the back of his head. "I agree, this cannot be let out of hand before it becomes dangerous. I couldn't stand to see the Republic at its knees like the times of the Yuuzhan Vong. Invasions are ridiculous and nothing but a pest and annoyance if it is stopped early. What do you think, Director?"_

            The Director of Intelligence was a Bothan, by the name of Trox Fey'lya. He was, in fact nephew of the late Chief of Staff Borsk Fey'lya. His position of Director was well earned and not brought upon by his uncle's position of power. After Fey'lya's assassination, Trox had declared to know every bit of information for the Military of the New Republic. He scratched his thin whiskers and beard.

"I believe you all somewhat have the right idea. Forces into Hutt Space is risky, but I am not a tactical officer. My sources have told me that Nal Hutta's defenses will shoot down anything sporting a military code of any sort," Trox said.

            "I understand that much. Have you picked up what kind of defenses we're talking about?" Susan Resk asked, her eyes narrowing. Her suspicion for the Director grew every time she talked to him. She had a slight dislike of most Bothans in a great power. They tended to do whatever was best for their career, not for the Republic, of course.

            "The spies say Nar Shaddaa has several planetary turbolasers that are hidden beneath endless towers. Nal Hutta itself has a planetary shield and over 500 ground turbolasers at about even locations," Trox said, answering Resk.

"We'd need half the Republic fleet take on that kind of defense. Diplomacy and a short, quick strike will be the only way," the olive-skinned woman declared.

            "I am nothing short of agreeing," General Darklighter said, nodding.

            "Representing the Army, I directly agree," Y'suk said as his _lekku twitched in what everyone in the room interpreted as an agreement gesture._

            "I will gather the information I can," Fey'lya said.

            With that, the four members of the Military Council stood up and went their separate ways. Susan Resk pressed a button on a panel activating a commlink. "What is it, Admiral?"

            "Inform the _Underthrive of the situation at Nal Hutta. I want two more Mon Cal cruisers with them."_

            "Yes, ma'am. However, the Hutts will not think kindly of Republic forces-"

            "Did I mention get a popular criminal organization's transponder IDs for the ships? They will be captured Republic cruisers now," Resk said into the commlink.

            "I understand, ma'am. I will carry out your orders. Ensign, out."

            Resk sighed. _Why can't anything in the Republic be simple anymore?_

*           *           *

            The small team of renegade Republic troopers had finally arrived at a docking bay of the Star Destroyer. Around them they saw TIE fighters being repaired- _Or modified with shields, thought Jim Bogaan. _

"I can't wait till they send forces to Nal Hutta. And I hope no Jedi and their diplomatic ways are coming," Jacksone said gruffly. "No diplomacy or negotiation is going to take place. Not now, not ever with this psycho."

            "He might be crazy, but he's strong. OK, take out those two, and we should be able to get into the shuttle," Jim said, completely ignoring the Commodore.

            "Hey buddy, _I'M the superior officer here-" Jacksone said, but then stopped. "Actually, just do what he said. It'll work."_

            The troopers aimed their guns and shut down from their upper deck, hitting the two stormtroopers. Jim jumped down ten feet off the deck and ran onto the boarding ramp. The others dove over and followed Bogaan into the _Lambda­-Class shuttle. Blaster bolts sizzled at the hull of the shuttle, but by this time the troops had all gotten in._

            "I'm setting the engines… WORK BABY! WORK!" Jim yelled. Jacksone flipped a switched and the shuttle's engine hummed to life. 

"Gimme a report!" Jacksone ordered.

            "100% shields… I'm scanning for nearby Republic ships…" Jim's voice trailed off. 

Another trooper stood up. "I've got a fleet of three MC-80s and five Corvettes doing something between two worlds in the Ryloth system."

            "SET COORDINATES FOR THAT PLACE!!! NOW!" Jacksone screamed, and laserfire zapped passed the shuttle. Jim put his hand on the control stick and the shuttle screamed, launching into hyperspace. TIE fighters and the _Knight were left behind. And so was the wrath of Darth Zen._

"You are fools! How could you just let them take my shuttle?! Who was in command of that docking bay?" Darth Zen demanded, slamming his fist on his command chair. The bridge of the _Knight acted completely normal, but one officer stood up._

"I take full responsibility. I apologize, my lord and I will create the newest… Oh… NO!!!"

            Zen lifted the man into the air, and the man grabbed his neck, in hope of surviving the choke hold of the Force. Zen dropped the officer, creating a clanging. "Lord Zen, it will not happen again-"

            "You do not lie, Commander. It will not happen again." With that, he shot bolts of lightning out of his fingertips, zapping into the Commander's chest and plopping him on the ground, as dead as Alderaan. Three stormtroopers dragged the body away, as Darth Zen sat down in his command chair once again.

            Suddenly, the door of the bridge slid open, and in walked Admiral Welsh, with part of his uniform ripped and medtape wrapped around his head. "What happened to you, Admiral?" Darth Zen queried.

            "Those blasted Rebels knocked me out… However, our troopers did find your lightsaber, my lord." A stormtrooper walked forward and handed Zen the black, evil work of art.

            "You have done well, Admiral. The commander is charge of the docking bays has been terminated, you may pick the officer you think is most competent for the job," Zen said and then paused, turning over to the communications area, where advanced commlinks and HoloNet transceivers popped out of the ceiling and panels. "How long until the fleet arrives, Ensign?"

            The young man turned around. "The rest of the fleet will arrive within several hours," he said matter-of-factly and then turning away. Darth Zen nodded.

            "Admiral, what has the intelligence department gathered about Nal Hutta's defenses?" Zen asked, turning to Welsh. The Admiral cleared his throat and then began. 

"My lord, as much as Nal Hutta would be a decisive victory for the New Empire, we cannot possibly stage a full assault. The crimelords have a total of around 500 turbolasers on the planet, and that's not even counting Nar Shaddaa's defenses. A full frontal attack with require the fleet back in the days of Palpatine."

            Zen's Falleen eyes narrowed down to yellow slits. "Palpatine could never lead a military assault, and his name will not be spoken of here or anywhere in the New Empire. I am not a fool, Admiral, and I know just the way we can easily get past this 'advanced' system of turbolasers," Zen said, putting an mock emphasis on 'advanced'. 

            "What is your plan, Lord Zen?"

Zen's reptilian face curled into a grin. His dark brown robes flowed down as he stood up, facing Admiral Welsh eye-to-eye. "If our Interdictor Cruisers can project opposite gravity wells, we can use that force to multiply the power of our turbolasers. These supercharged turbolasers could be used to demolish cities, forcing the Hutts into surrender to our high-powered 'superweapons'."

            By this time, our troops can garrison on Nar Shaddaa, and capture whatever criminal hackers we can find. When we force them to deactivate the turbolasers and turn the planet's defenses to our control, the planet will be helpless to surrender. Thus, we have conquered the main planet in the system, and sent waves of terror through the criminal underworld."

            Admiral Welsh couldn't believe his ears the entire time as Darth Zen spoke. "My lord, that is a brilliant idea!"

            "Yes, I am much more than a physical force," Zen said, and sat back down in his chair. _With plans like that, these men will never rebel, Zen thought to himself.****_


	6. Chapter 6

"Admiral, we are coming out of hyperspace in 60 kliks. Your orders?"

            Admiral Pelleaon smiled as he sat in his command chair. He ran his hands across his thick, black beard. "Power up shields by taking gravity fluctuators down to 95 percent. Ion cannons and turbolasers full power, I want every single gunner in this fleet firing to destroy that madman!"

            "Aye, Admiral. I'm sending signals to our ships," a lieutenant said, pressing buttons in a blur. Pelleaon watched the large viewport out of the bridge. The swirling void of hyperspace seemed to slow down.

            "We're coming out of hyperspace, Admiral."

            Darth Zen put up his hood for the first time in several hours as he sat in his command chair. His eyes glowed yellow, looking like an enormous Jawa. He watched the blank void of space, patiently awaiting his reinforcements.

            "My lord, there are six large bodies and two smaller ones," an officer reported to Zen. His yellow eyes became slits as the holoprojector came to life. Seth Pelleaon sat in his command chair.

            "Darth Zen, you will die now."

            The projection shut off and Darth Zen pulled off his hood, clenching his fist. "Engage!" No officers disobeyed or even suggested retreat, as they want to keep their life away from the wrath of Darth Zen.

            Turbolaser fire shot through the void of space. The _Knight's shields absorbed several shots. The other Star Destroyer IV model began firing its turbolasers and ion cannons, hoping to disable or destroy whatever possible. Pelleaon's fleet was incredibly intimidating, with power to boot, but Darth Zen's two Destroyer IV's were enough to hold off the ships for quite a while._

"Lord Zen! Shields are down to 78%! We cannot take much more firepower."

"That will be my decision… I have a new order. Focus all ion cannons on Pelleaon's ship. I want him alive. The rest must be destroyed." Zen said, rubbing his hand together sickly.

            "Admiral! The ion blasts have damaged some drive systems… Shall we put particle shields?"

            Pelleaon slammed his fist into his chair in anger. "Launch the rest of those TIEs, I want their target to be any vital systems of the Destroyers. We will destroy them much quick than they can destroy us."

            Turbolasers created a blinding field of light between the two fleets.

            "Captain Tusui!! Our shields are depleted!" an officer on the Star Destroyer next to Zen's cried. "The Remnant scum are using their tractor beams to pull us in!"

            Captain Tusui lifted an eyebrow. "Their use of beams will allow the _Knight to shoot down their weakened shields! We will be free soon."_

            "I didn't say capture it! I said DESTROY IT!" Pelleaon yelled across the bridge.

            "Your command, sir," a gunner said as he and his partners began firing the turbolasers at the Star Destroyer. "We're hitting the reactor…"

            A tremendous explosion sent huge shockwaves through space as the _Knight's sister ship blew to nothing but floating hunks of bent, melted ore and mutilated bodies in the death cold of space. Debris slammed out in all directions, creating an asteroid field._

            "Debris will hit us, we have to take down the deflectors and put up all power to the particle!" An officer cried to Pelleaon.

            "So be it. They will be forced to do the same, for the time being."

            Zen smiled and watched the outer part of the _Knight's hull as the particle shields vaporized the large hunks into small, molecular particles. "Fire."_

            Turbolasers lanced out of their cannons and streaked toward the Imperial fleet, shooting past particle shields and onto the armor. Zen put on a vile grin. He could imagine Pelleaon's utter shock at the discovery of all the energy Zen's Destroyers could produce. _Technology is just a small portion of my power, foolish human._

            Seth Pelleaon gasped in shock. He rubbed his head, not knowing what to do. "Admiral, they're hitting our ships… Vital systems are down on the _New Ruler and the __Conqueror… __Conqueror is… gone." An officer couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. He choked them out like a piece of bantha fat._

            "I… I can't believe this. No matter. Continue firing, full force to the turbolasers!"

            Gunners around the _Serpent and the rest of the fleet continued their onslaught of turbolaser fire as it ripped at the shields of the __Knight. "There's several large bodies coming out of hyperspace… They're not ours! We have to take down the particle shields…"_

            "We can't sir!" an officer cried.

            "Take them off! The fire-"

            The bridge rocked violently from laserfire from the ships coming into realspace. Officers obeyed, flipping switches and praying the deflectors had enough energy to charge up.

            And with that, as the rest of Zen's renegade fleet fired upon the Knight, the weak deflectors broke down. The third volley penetrated deep into the armor.

            "Aim all weapons upon Pelleaon's ship," Zen ordered.

            Laserfire swept through the blank, black void of space and smacked upon the bridge of the _Knight._

            "You will die Zen!" Seth cried out, knowing the words would be his last.

            With that, the bridge exploded, with the debris landing right upon the reactor of the ship. The Destroyer exploded in a brilliant supernova, shooting debris through space. Zen chuckled a vile chuckle. Admiral Welsh smiled ruthlessly.

            "A fleet without a leader might as well be mynocks attacking us. Shall we move the fleet towards Nal Hutta, my lord?" Welsh asked, his short brown hair shining in the light of the Destroyer.

            "Excellent work, men. We will move into orbit of Nal Hutta. Prepare my shuttle, I have a 'business' proposal for our Hutt friends," Zen said. Welsh forced out a smile. He knew Lord Zen was going to be merciless with the disgusting, slimy creatures.

            _We will crush them! Welsh thought victoriously._

            "Not quite yet," Zen said to the Admiral as he walked out of the room. Welsh's eyes widened, but then a wave of confusion swept over him. _He can read minds? Nonsense. He probably wasn't even talking to me. __It is no matter, the Remnant will be in shards, and soon the Republic will fall to our rule!_

*           *           *

            "Master Skywalker, I just came to inform you two more Mon Calamari cruisers will be joining us for added support."

            Luke nodded. "I understand. Diplomatic relations with a Sith lord may not work out too well."

            "We will try our hardest though," Anakin added, moving his piece on the HoloChess board. He was playing Ben, and Ben's skills were better than ever.

            Ben laughed as he moved his rancor up, chomping the ronto of Anakin's in half. "You're too predictable Master," Ben said kiddingly.

            Anakin smirked. "Ben, you have no clue I'm letting you win," he said, obviously lying.

            "Well if you're going to, I might as well. Mynock to F3."

            Anakin pulled his short brown hair in shock. "Sithspawn!" Ben just grinned.

            "Now I _know you aren't letting me win."_

            Anakin raised his eyebrow as he moved his rancor, smashing Anakin's mynock. "Checkmate," the older cousin said to Ben. Ben clenched his fist, pointing at Anakin.

            "You'll see, Master. Someday I'll beat you."

            Tenel Ka laughed. "You make it sound like such a serious thing… it's a game of HoloChess for crying out loud!"

            "You wanna play?" Ben asked her.

            "Only a true Jedi can win," she said grinning from ear to ear.

*           *           *

            "Han… hold on. You have to hold on…" Leia's voice faded as he gripped the hand of her husband. Han Solo's skin was beginning to peel and turn unnatural colors. Leia knew it was his time.

            "I don't know what I'm going to do without you," Leia said, gripping her grayish white hair. "You mean everything to me… I love you."

            Han stared up at her with blank, glazed eyes. "I know…"

            And with that, Leia lost all connections of his mind. His hand went limp, but Leia held on to the deathly cold head. A tear rolled down the old woman's cheek and smacked down onto Solo's arm.

_I'll meet you there someday, Han.****_


	7. Chapter 7

"Father… FATHER!" Anakin cried out, and heard Han's voice in his head as he slipped to nothing but a blank part of the Force. Anakin saw his father, in his early days as a smuggler, then Rebel hero, then Republic warrior… and now… at calm with the force.

Luke had felt it too, and put his hand on his forehead solemnly, not believing himself that his great friend had died.

            "Master Solo? What has happened?" Threepio asked, and Uzbakh spoke in his rough Basic.

            "General Solo… has passed," Uzbakh said, and everyone that knew the man began to break down. Lowbacca was no exception, creating whines mixed with growling, which was the equivalent of Wookie crying. Chewbacca had been dedicated to Han since his death at Sernpidal, and Lowbacca had been the same with Han in the many years past.

            Anakin put his hands over his face. _Why?_

*           *           *

            "Lord Zen, the fleet is moving out of hyperspace. Shall we power up shields and weapons?"

            Officers tried to hide their shock as Darth Zen walked onto the bridge of the _Knight without his dark brown robes, but with a black and purple armor, pants and long trench robe. __He looks almost ceremonial, Welsh thought incredulously._

            "Do not show any signs of an attack. Find the holographic frequency for Weeka the Hutt," Zen ordered precisely. The officers of the bridge quickly fulfilled the request.

            "Milord, shall I bring in the protocol?" an officer asked. Darth Zen spun around in his ceremonial outfit, clenching his fist. "Do you dare question my competence? Just because some of you fools can't speak Huttese doesn't mean I cannot. I am a Falleen, and I happen to have extended lengths of intelligence!" Zen said.

            "I- I was not aware, sir. I will never-" Zen waved his hand swiftly, and the officer flew against the wall with a sickening smack. He crumpled into a lump. The officer, who was an obvious Barab, gritted his teeth and pulled a blaster off his belt, shooting at Zen. Within the flick of an eye, the bolt was sent flying back into the wall, making a scorch mark. Zen's wicked reptilian smile made the Barab almost squeal with fear. "Take him to the detention block," Zen ordered, and as he turned around, officers immediately turned their heads back to their stations.

            "Lord Zen, Weeka is accepting transmission. Do you wish to speak with him?" a middle-aged female asked Zen. The Falleen rubbed his forehead.

            "Transmit it to my quarters," Zen ordered, and with that, turned around and headed out of the bridge.

            Zen's quarters were not a very cheery place. They were dark, with barely enough green light to see. After Zen's life of containment in a bright camp, he hated light. He watched the small hologram projector in front of him. There sat Weeka the Hutt, the most powerful man in crime itself.

            _An old 'friend'. Ugh, he looks disgusting. The statement was true to the fullest extent. Weeka's 200 years of age had brought upon too many layers of fat to count. He looked worse than Jabba the Hutt. __And that's saying something, thought the sinister Falleen. He cleared his throat and sat down in his comfortable chair. Weeka began talking in Huttese._

            "What do you want, Zen? I gave you my end of the deal, if you don't' like it-"

            Zen shook his head, speaking in Basic. "Weeka, its not that. If you assist me, your organization will be paid dearly."

            Weeka laughed heartily. "You want my assistance? For what price?"

            "I will give you 750,000 credits," Zen said. It was somewhat of a lie. Darth Zen had nothing except for his fleet of ships and the troops carried on them. He was a Sith Lord, however, and knew how to manipulate others to the point where he could steal an infinite amount of money.

            Weeka drew what Zen thought was a smile. "You are wise, Jedi. What job will you need of Ruin Ca?"

            _Ruin Ca. Interesting name for such a foolish organization. "Do not call me Jedi, Hutt. I ask of your bounty hunters. Not only will you be paid that great sum, I will pay the victorious hunter a sum of 50,000. This offer is irresistible."_

            Weeka sudo-smiled again. Zen wished he could chop the fool to pieces. His lightsaber's intense beam easily could cut through Hutt flesh. If Zen could just get down there and take out the Hutt, he could have control of the entire planet! But Zen knew control of Nal Hutta was no use. Laws and order were nothing in Hutt Space. As Weeka began to talk, Zen closed his eyes and began reaching inside Weeka, pulling in the Hutt anatomy. He saw the brain of the Hutt and smiled, closing the force around the arteries. He snapped his fingers, and with that, the Hutt walloped over, dead.

            "Good thing we worked out a deal, Weeka." Zen said, storming out of his quarters.

            "My lord, I wasn't expecting you to-" Admiral Welsh was cut off by the anger in Zen's eyes.

            "Be silent! I want Ruin Ca's main palace to be destroyed. All power to weapons, inform the fleet, DESTROY THAT PALACE!"

            Officers didn't dare question the seemingly crazed order. Turbolasers shot out from the Destroyer, and Zen watched, as his wretched, scarred face turned into a vile grin. He could imagine the chaos ensuing on Nar Shaddaa. Not everyday did military ships stop into Hutt Space and try to zap the largest criminal organization's palace.

            _The Imperials would have no reason, the Republic is against policy to kill… And no Republic support for these criminal scum!_

*           *           *

            "Captain Krok wishes to inform you Jedi that the _Underthrive has spotted five Star Destroyers, three of an unknown type, five Carrack Cruisers, two Interdictor Cruisers and to top it off, two Corellian Corvettes that used to be on commission with Commodore Jacksone and his force. They are shooting at Nar Shaddaa, do you wish to speak with them for diplomatic relations?" An officer said to the Jedi, who were in the lounge still._

"Yes, we will make it to the comm room, thank you lieutenant," Luke said. He slowly stood up, limping forward with his cane. The other Jedi followed him down a hallway and into a room with a large, life-size holoprojector.

            On the screen came a man with Jedi robes. His face was just two yellow eyes, like a huge Jawa. Luke frowned as he sat down. "We wish for our prisoners to be set free," Skywalker said immediately. The rest of the Jedi stayed standing.

            The figure laughed as he took off his hood. "Master Skywalker… I remember you. Its really a pity it has to come to this, after all, you are my 'master'."

            _Zen. Oh no…_

            The Falleen laughed, and the rest of the Jedi looked skeptically at Luke. "You mean you didn't tell your Jedi friends about the 'runaway' dark sider? You moron, you thought I was dead in that crash. Never would I die so stupidly and cowardly. My ascension through the Imperial ranks and into my own fleet has crippled the Remnant, and I see the Republic is here to help?"

            "Zen, we can give you peace and serenity at the Jedi Temple-" Anakin Solo began to say, but was cut off by the hand of Luke Skywalker. Ben Skywalker couldn't believe his ears. His father trained a Sith? It was all so confusing…

            "Zen-"

            "_Darth Zen, may I ask."_

            Luke did not allow anger to fill him. "You are no Dark Lord of the Sith, the last of their kind was my father. You are not that strong in the Force, I remember my short teachings with you on Falleen. You are bluffing to impress your men," Skywalker said to the impending threat.

            Zen smiled. "That's where you are wrong, you old fool. I am nothing short of a Master, and soon I will sit on the throne of the Republic."

            "We will not allow that to happen," Uzbakh simply stated, almost completely clear in Basic.

            "You Jedi are no match for the dark side. If you wish, come fight me. I will have my pets feast on your severed heads."

            "We wish not to attack. Cease your assault on Nar Shaddaa. These people have done nothing to you," Luke said, in his old, croaking voice.

            Zen laughed energetically. "It does not matter. This galaxy has done too much to hurt me and ones like me. Everyone in my path will die, and that means you Jedi."

            The hologram shut off, and everyone went silent. "What shall we do, Master?" Tenel Ka asked Luke.

            "I do not know, Tenel," he said quickly, rubbing his forehead.

*           *           *

            "How can this be happening?!" Supreme Admiral Susan Resk said, pulling her black hair in frustration.

            "I do not know, Admiral. No one saw this coming, not even Master Skywalker," a low-ranked intelligence officer said to her. "Our ties with the Bothan SpyNet revealed nothing about this mysterious Zen. Security holocameras picked up something that brings Zen and Skywalker together from the past, but officers are too afraid to question a Jedi about such matters."

            Resk nodded, sitting down on the comfortable couch in her quarters. "Oh, I agree with all of them. It cannot be his fault directly this madman is threatening a takedown of the Republic. I can't take this, no more Sith shall stand in my way! I've got MC cruisers all over, I'll just send a fleet-"

            "Admiral!" a voice said from the sliding doorway of Resk's quarters. In walked the Bith Vice Admiral Yi'in, a high advisor of the Supreme Admiral. His occasional stuttering of Basic made him only the slightest bit hard to understand. "I do nooooooottttt question your orders directly, howevvvvvvverrrrrr I musssssst commmmmment that a diiiiiiirect assault on an Imperial fleet in orbit of Nal Hutta would do nothing but annnnnnggeeerrrr the Hutttttsssss, briiiiinging on impennnnding dooooom."

            "Vice Admiral, I see your point. See that you inform the _Underthrive and its sister ships heading to Nal Hutta to launch small tracking devices in any way possible on as many of that psycho's cruisers as possible. The Hutts will not assist either, only the highest bidder, if that. Contact some Hutt leaders and bribe them with up to 2.5 million credits total, taken from the Navy's account." Susan Resk said firmly._

            The intelligence officer shook his head. "Bribery? Are you MAD? The Senate will charge you with as many accounts of treason as possible so one of them can become Supreme Admiral in an emergency galactic popular vote! Not to mention the Republic will look worse than ever thought possible to systems considering joining!" The Bith nodded solemnly as the officer talked.

            "I wiiiiiiiilllll nooooooooottttt ssseeeeeeeee it doooone."

            "Fine then. Prepare my personal fleet for active duty," Resk ordered with a smirk turning to her teeth gritting, "And see you obey me or else I can find you a duty as a garbage collector right here in Galactic City!"

            The Bith nodded, obeying and walking out of her quarters. The intelligence officer, sensing extreme anger, left right after as Resk began to calm. The Supreme Admiral of the Galactic Republic was always dedicated to a personal fleet, and Resk was no exception.

            Her fleet contained two top of the line MC-120s, barely ever used, four Corellian Corvettes and her personal command ship, an experimental Star Defender, the possible future Republic capital ships. The Defender was armed to the teeth with turbolasers, ion cannons, laser cannons and tractor beams. Each Defender carried 6 squadrons or a wing of fighters and so the Defenders were almost invincible when it came to fighter support. The ovular cruisers with small buildings all over the hull were the size of Star Destroyers, but packed the punch of a Mon Cal cruiser.

            Resk loved her flagship, but the lack of organic crew became an annoyance sometimes. As smart as the new AI military droids were, they never beat an organic officer or pilot. _All for the better, as this could be considered a criminal act, any more real officers and everyone would chicken out._

            Several hours later, Resk sat in the command chair of the Defender named the _Supreme. "Set course for Nal Hutta," she ordered. The humans, aliens and robot assortment nodded, not questioning the Supreme Admiral, one of the most four powerful people in the galaxy. __This threat will meet its match, and by then, the treason charges will be gone and I'll be elected to become the Chief of State, Supreme General, Supreme Admiral, Senator and every other position of power. She obviously wouldn't take the offer of any except where she was even if that fantasy did happen. Power was nothing compared to the years of hard loyalty she put into gaining her way to the top of the New Republic Navy, and she wasn't going to throw it away to become some greedy politician._

*           *           *

            "As much as I hate to say it, we must attack, my Jedi friends," Captain Krok, a Quarren said to them.

            "I agree, Captain. Fire at will."

            The Jedi couldn't believe Master Skywalker would acknowledge and initiate a space battle, but they knew it was the only way. "Captain, my Jedi and I wish to head to the surface of the planet. Our friends in Nar Shaddaa need help fleeing their homes," Skywalker said, smiling at the Captain.

            "Master, with all due respect, the people of Nar Shaddaa are villainous scum… It would be-"

            Luke Skywalker silenced him with a hand. "I know of these things. This gives us no right not to help them. They are creatures, just like all of us, and may change their ways toward the Republic with assistance. All I ask is an escorted shuttle, Captain."

            The Captain nodded. "I understand. Prepare a shuttle."

*           *           *

            Darth Zen watched with a desolate and evil smile from holocams outside his ship as his small but more than formidable fleet blasted away at the cityscape of Nar Shaddaa, the smuggler's moon. "Commence Interdictor Superweapon," he said to his officers, and they did not question, flipping switches and manipulating computers. Bleeps and clicks initiated, and the turbolaser fire separated into two divisions, with one collecting massive power inside the invisible bubble of gravity wells.

            Suddenly the energy became so intense it formed into a huge beam, and it shot down at Nal Hutta like a battlecruiser on hyperdrive crashing. The beam slammed into a Hutt city, and the power blasted through the crust of the planet, shooting magma and green chemicals everywhere. Hutts screamed and writhed away as a huge mushroom cloud of an explosion blew everything within a 3 kilometer radius to nothing but large, smoking piles of ash that quickly flew kilometers down into the crust of the planet.

            Zen could not help from laughing as a Hutt appeared on screen and began speaking in Huttese. "Who do you say you are?!" the Hutt demanded.

            "I am Darth Zen, and you will surrender or else every major city on your planet will be incinerated!" Zen smiled and was about to continue, but was interrupted-

            "Lord Zen, our Interdictors are going to…" a frantic officer cried. "an energy overload…"

            Zen's reptilian hand, out of view of the holocam that was projecting him to the Hutt, clenched and that officer fell as a vital artery in his neck popped, killing him instantly.

            "Did you hear that, Hutt?" Zen demanded.

The Hutt looked baffled. "What are you talking about, you madman? You're crazier than I thought possible-"

            "Our superweapon is charging. I want you to surrender yourselves to my ship, the _Knight. That means I want you and every other important leader in Hutt Space. Furthermore, I want access codes to every document in your portion of the galaxy. Then your lives- and the lives of your citizens, criminals and others- will be saved." Zen finished, putting his clawed hands together._

            "And if not…"

            "I will direct my superbeam to all major cities, then to minor cities, then to other portions- until your world is gone. The same goes for your 'Smuggler's Moon'."

            "I might respect your villainous ways if you were not such a military fool. I have no choice to surrender… but you will see your day, Zen!" the Hutt snarled- or at least what Zen thought was a snarl.

            "Wise choice, master Hutt. Now please report to the Knight with your governing friends, we have matters of government to discuss," Zen said, with his skin turning a pale blue from such great excitement. The Hutt switched off the hologram, disgusted.

            "I will oversee our takeover. Lieutenant Zezi, prepare my shuttle and TIE escorts. Admiral, you will take over command against the Republic ships. They are not invincible, but not easy. I bid you good luck… or else." The dark tone in Zen's voice tried to intimidate Welsh, but he shielded himself.

            "I understand," he said, saluting Zen. Zen smiled at the Admiral's perseverance, but changed his expression, noticing something he had never noticed before. _His strength in the Force is untrained but incredible… He is what Exar Kun and Sith of the past predicted… The Chosen Dark Lord, the Seer. These thoughts washed over Zen and shocked him.****_


	8. Chapter 8

            "Follow that shuttle, land near it. The dark force lies there," Luke directed. E-Wings surrounded them, shooting at incoming TIE fighters. The Republic transport shot forth, following the outdated but efficient Lambda-Class shuttle Zen was in. The Jedi all wondered if Luke was thinking of attacking Zen, which was very un-Jedi like. Anger was not the path of the light side. But they knew Skywalker was better attuned to the Force than any of them. The boarding ramp went down with a hiss. The assortment of Jedi, aliens and humans alike, followed the slow Skywalker and his wooden cane as it clanked against the metal. Republic troopers with thick duraplast armor came behind them.

            Skywalker turned and faced his Jedi and the troopers. "I need you all to evacuate whoever needs help. I will take Zen… alone."

            "Father, you musn't… You're too old-" Ben began.

            "I am stronger than this would-be Sith. I am not arrogant, only stating facts. Now help them, not me," Skywalker said, and he dropped his cane, walking away at a normal pace, obviously using the Force to balance himself. The Jedi walked away, keeping a mental link with Luke.

            "So Zen, I see you have not harnessed your powers correctly." Luke Skywalker revealed himself into a factory the Dark Lord of the Sith stood in.

            "Oh, but I have Skywalker. I am more powerful than you, the most powerful Jedi Master."

            "I offer you the light side over dark, Zen. This offer is-"

            Zen gritted his sharp teeth. "Be quiet, Jedi scum. You will die now!" The brightly illuminated factory full of junk easily revealed Zen in his robes. He tossed them aside and ignited an orange bladed lightsaber. Luke's eyes narrowed.

            "So Zen, it comes down to this?"

            Before Luke could even think, Zen leaped forward off a box, hacking and slashing with all his might. Luke used the Force to pull his lightsaber off his belt, igniting it with great precision, with just enough force to block every blow. Zen slashed harder and harder, but Luke's manipulation of the Force kept the two in check. Zen leaped into a backflip. "Fall you old man!" he said, slashing at Luke.

            Luke took his lightsaber and swung with perfection, creating a sizzling slash in Darth Zen's right and lightsaber gripping arm. His lightsaber flew, deactivating. Zen howled in pain, but raised both of his hands to shoot deadly dark lightning at Luke. Luke remembered the Emperor's lightning, and this looked even deadlier.

            Luke was a Jedi Master, however, and Darth Zen would have to throw more at him than a couple lightning bolts. Luke easily deflected the bolts backwards, sending a shockwave through the Falleen. Zen gritted his teeth in anger. "DIE SKYWALKER!" He used the force to pick up a huge crate and Luke, despite his old age, used the force to leap to the side it heaved itself forward, and Zen changed its direction, slamming into Skywalker's body. Luke was pinned, but cutting the box and sliding himself out with his lightsaber.

            "Impressive, Jedi. You are quite an opponent," the Sith Lord said.

            Luke knew he was bluffing, but it was no matter. Luke deactivated his glowing green lightsaber. "There is another way, Zen. The way of the-"

            "Shut your wrinkled mouth! I do not care for lectures, especially not those of an overrated fool as yourself. DIE!" Zen hacked suddenly, and caught Luke off guard. He barely moved in time, but it was just enough that Luke's surgical hand stayed intact. Luke ignited his lightsaber, backing onto a higher platform in defense.

            Zen grabbed his burn wound from Luke's saber and quickly pulled a proton grenade out of his pocket. "Skywalker, do you know what this will do when I toss it at you?"

            Luke didn't say anything, just twitching his lightsaber. Zen began to run, and Luke had no intention of killing the Sith, but ran after. Zen suddenly took a leap off the many platforms of the Nar Shadda streets onto another building's balcony. He left behind the grenade, and Luke knew it would blow the entire balcony to pieces of debris. Luke closed his eyes, feeling the interior of the grenade in his mind, and he twitched his hand, manipulating the force to turn the internal parts to a negative position. He then sliced the grenade in half very precisely, shooting several sparks but creating no explosion. He left the two useless parts there as he followed the path of the Dark Lord Zen.

*           *           *

            The space battle was looking extremely grim for the Republic. Despite the three MC-120s and the Republic's fighters, the TIE fighters, interceptors and bombers with shields were extremely difficult to destroy. Another great factor were the two Star Destroyer IVs. Thick armor, heavy shielding, and heavy turbolasers made them near equals to the Mon Cal cruisers, and eight other Imperial capital ships were assisting in the fight.

            "Admiral, the Republic has surrendered one of their ships to us. It may be a trap, however," an officer said. He voiced his opinions quietly but sensibly, and Welsh could control his anger to a great extent.

            "Yes, Commander. Very well put. Tell them we will not harm their crew and we will blast all escape pods launched. I want every squad of stormtroopers and ASTs down there immediately. I want every prisoner taken to the detention block, and I will personally talk to the captain."

            "Yes, Admiral," just one of the many responses as officers that headed certain areas of the Destroyer toyed with their computers and threw out orders to lower officers. Welsh stood up and prepared to head down to the docking bay. It would be more than a pleasure to see the weak New Republic Navy fall before he and Zen. _At least, I hope he considers me part of the equation._

*           *           *

            "Admiral Resk, we are coming out of hyperspace in 24 hours."

            "Thank you, Lieutenant." She saluted the young woman as she left for the bridge of the _Supreme. Resk stretched across her large, soft bed. The Supreme Admiral was rich and had the best of the best of everything, but that was all nothing compared to the excitement of commanding a vessel into a space battle. War was not something she liked, and that's why she needed to stop this enemy right in their tracks and destroy them, even if it was maybe considered treason. __And maybe suicide, if the Hutts decide against us._

            But she knew three Mon Calamari cruisers could take on six Destroyers, maybe more. Renegade warlords hardly ever had fleets any bigger than that. She reached for the remote to her HoloNet connection and was going to watch a holomovie. After all, the Republic were responsible for paying the billions of credits to keep the 'Net running. The member planets who joined the Republic paid well-earned tax money for that, military purposes for defense and of course to pay the large salaries of men, women and creatures who ran the government itself. Resk thought the Republic's system worked well, even if going to a Senate meeting usually meant pulling her hair.'

            Sometimes she wished a Jedi would just mind trick some of the less-than-worthy and/or power hungry senators to quit the Senate. She personally thought that the Chief of State, Deel Rolla, was a respectable Bothan female, and her and several major senators that actually cared for their systems should rule in a council, like the Republic military. However, Resk didn't make the rules, and didn't want to.

            She stared at the ceiling as she lay there. The ceiling was normally a pale gray, but she had holoprojectors around her quarters so she could see what was going on in space. She grabbed the remote and switched the projector on, flipping through the certain images and information the HoloNet gave. She switched to Nal Hutta, and a giant hologram of the planet stretched across the room. She looked at the flat, two dimensional information.

            _Just stuff about criminals and Hutts… Wait here we go. She watched as the holoscreen continued to show information about the planet's defenses and the true power of the Hutts. She wondered if she could get the Hutts to work with the Republic. __They're can't be a species that are all the same. Humans are the greatest examples, but all Wookies aren't violent, all Bothans aren't obsessed with betrayal…_

            She didn't know about this one. It would be the Republic's greatest challenge yet.

*           *           *

            "My Lord, with all due respect, ten of us will not be able to kill a Jedi Master… Not now, not ever!"

            Darth Zen nodded at him as Zen ripped of his dark cloak. "But you will be able to keep him occupied. The plan is simple: you shoot at the Jedi with whatever you've got in that box over there. The detonators are set. Your datapads will display the timer. With only seconds to spare, you will jump onto the shuttle we will provide, and you will all be given rankings of greatness. Now leave!"

            A dark figure approached out of the Nar Shaddaa daylight. "Fight me like a warrior," Luke said.

            Zen gritted his teeth. "Jedi, I have had enough of you! Kill him!"

            The stormtroopers fired their blasters, and Luke ignited his green lightsaber instantly, blocking each and every bolt with great precision. The beams of energy bounced back, and four troopers went down instantly. Luke used the Force to throw his saber out, decapitating several troopers. The other four shot, but Luke was too quick, using a Force wave to knock them all down unconscious. Zen held his lightsaber arm in pain.

            "Its not very Jedi-like to strike a weak man down."

            "Its not very Sith-like to tell a Jedi Master what he should and shouldn't do," Luke responded quickly. The old man's eyes narrowed. "You are too dangerous to be put in simple Republic prisons. But I think its worth the effort to keep you alive," Skywalker said. He struck swiftly, slashing off one of Zen's legs. The crippled Falleen fell instantly, immediately beginning to use the Force to try to heal it.

            "Aaaaahhhh!" Zen screamed deeply. Luke reached into Zen's weakened state of mind, and suddenly felt another presence in the room. He spun around, and saw another Falleen, they all looked the same to him-

            "Nice try, Skywalker."

            The Falleen closed his eyes and focused on the Force to pick up the other Falleen and throw him against the wall, unconscious. Luke gripped his blade. "Who are you?"

            The Falleen smiled, and it struck Skywalker. The nasty, almost black scar across his eye gave him away. "You are the true Zen." The Falleen's smile seemed to grow as he said that.

            "Yes. You may have hurt my lightsaber arm before you came here, but the Force can bring better things than a lightsaber!" Zen suddenly screeched, shooting a focused stream of lightning at Luke. The Jedi Master doubled back, using his green saber to deflect the bolts back to the Falleen. Zen grabbed the energy in his hand, closing his eyes as he threw the ball at Luke. Skywalker tried to block it, but its speed made it crash onto the steel floor, blowing a huge hole, leading to the streets far below.

            Luke dove up onto the platform Zen was on and struck. Zen grabbed onto a pole and swung around it, avoiding Skywalker's attack. He then kicked Luke in the chest, and he staggered backwards. He felt his old body multiply the pain massively. When that kick Luke could have shrugged off 40 years ago, it now felt like a vibro-ax ripping into him. He threw his lightsaber out, using the Force to cleanly slice the top of the small pole Zen hung onto.

            Sparks flew, and Zen now hung at about a ten foot fall. Luke severed the pole's bottom edge also, making Zen fall flat. Luke flipped down, using the Force to catch on his feet, relaxing the nerves that sent tingles of pain all throughout his body.

            Zen jumped up, picking up two dead stormtrooper's blaster rifles. He fired with them both simultaneously, and Luke deflected each bolt, sending most flying back. They sizzled and scorched against walls, but  a lucky bolt shot straight at Zen's stomach. The Sith held up his hand, deflecting the bolt with ease. He gritted his teeth at Luke.

"Skywalker, as much as I thank you for assisting my training after Palpatine's needed death, my plans do not include being locked up on Republic exile planets. You must die!" Luke needed no anger, he simply sliced, and both of the Dark Lord's legs were cut off from the knee. He plopped down, helpless and crying out in pain.

            Luke begin to focus the Force, and manipulated his cells, making the legs heal faster and less pain. Zen was unconscious for sure from the instant loss of blood. Luke picked the Falleen up, dark blood leaving a trail as Luke carried him over his shoulder.

*           *           *

            Ben Skywalker watched, his heart pounding. His team had been attempting to evacuate refugees, but apparently the Hutts had surrended. He had never been so scared in his young but active life.

            "The planet is ours, Jedi! Even five of you cannot face an entire New Imperial Army. Surrender or die," an army commander said over his loudspeaker on his AT-ST. Surrounding Uzbakh, Lowbacca, Tenel Ka, Anakin and Ben was an Imperial army, full of stormtroopers, several AT-STs, two AT-ATs, and stormtroopers with black armor and some kind of strange energy weapon.

            Tenel Ka stepped forward, being the co-leader of the mission, next to Skywalker. "We surrender, commander." Even five Jedi would be suicidal to go into this. The other Jedi nodded in agreement. They had already sent Threepio back to the ship to send out a distress signal to bring in Republic troops, with the new HAVs, Hover Assault Vehicles, which were slow, but their deadly array of heavy blaster cannons, shields, thick armor, and capacity of 50 soldiers each made them completely deadly.

            They were hardly used, if ever used, in real combat. But Tenel Ka knew these renegade Imperials- or whatever they were- showed no mercy themselves, and the Republic and Jedi would all be dead. "Alright, I want Squads 42-45 escorting these Jedi scum. Stun 'em!"

            The Jedi all sprung back with their lightsabers, blocking stun bolts. They bounced back, zapping troopers and taking them down. Ben Skywalker and Anakin jumped up, creating perfect, small holes through transparisteel windows, and they dove into the buildings, unnoticed in the fire. They signaled to the other Jedi, but it was too late. Blaster fire set the ground up in a massive explosion. Anakin and Ben watched as only the blackened skeletons of the great Jedi remained.

            Ben could do nothing but gape in shock. He couldn't believe Lowie was gone… And Uzbakh, who had shown him so many combat stances. And Tenel Ka, who was practically his second mother, after his real one had died many years ago in battle against a Sith. "We must remember them with honor. Come on, my young Padawan," Anakin said, running away in the barely lit room. Ben followed, almost crying. His uncle, now his Jedi friends… When would the deaths stop?

*           *           *

            Captain Krok stared out the viewport of his Mon Calamari cruiser. The _Underthrive's first sister ship had been annihilated, and now it was sure the ship would be destroyed that it had surrendered. The __Underthrive slowly began its turn-around maneuvering. Krok had received a transmission from Supreme Admiral Resk about her fleet coming to assist the __Underthrive against Zen's remaining ships._

            It would be several standard hours before Resk's fleet showed up. In that time, the _Underthrive could be refueled, recharged and fixed in all ways by the technicians on board. Krok sat back down in his captain's chair. He couldn't believe the Senate wasn't ordering more ships to flock to Nal Hutta._

            His thoughts of allies with the Hutts were gone, his thoughts of enemies were gone. He now saw them just as pawns in this little battle. Truly, they hardly had a spacefleet. Several _Victory-Class Star Destroyers, maybe some slow Dreadnaughts, maybe even some modified cruisers. But all of those combined were no match for Zen's however many Destroyers._

            He rubbed his head and closed his eyes in frustration. He couldn't believe this mad warlord had actually succeeded in taking over the planet. "I'm retiring to my quarters. Comm me when the Supreme Admiral comes out of hyperspace. Commander, you are in charge now." He pointed at a Mon Calamari and slowly stepped into the turbolift.****


	9. Chapter 9

            Krok was barely into his seat, as he saw as a huge Star Defender launched out of hyperspace. It was followed by two MC-120s, almost identical to the _Underthrive, excluding the unique bubble pods on each ship. On the sides of the cruisers, in formation, came out four Corellian Corvettes. "Captain, the Supreme Admiral has arrived," a young, 20-year old female ensign said._

            The Quarren communications officer began, "Admiral Resk wishes to speak with you."

            Krok nodded, and the Quarren activated the large holoprojector in the center of the bridge. "Captain Krok?"

            "Yes, Supreme Admiral. We here on the _Underthrive are graced by such an important presence. We thank you-"_

            Resk shook her head violently. "No time for formalities, Captain. I need to know what we're fighting,"

            Krok nodded, his tentacles shaking. "We're looking at four Destroyers, two of an unknown type, with dark armor, very powerful shields. Support ships include five Carrack Cruisers, and a LOT of TIE fighters, most with shields and maybe rigged laser cannons."

            Resk shook her head. "I can't believe the Republic was stupid enough to let this happen. Not only that, if I didn't have the power I have in the Navy, this force would have taken over Hutt Space, and begun construction on more ships. I want this to happen… What do you mean, crazy droid?"

            Resk looked annoyed as she turned and looked at a view panel. Krok saw it too. Another large body moving in on sensors. Susan gritted her teeth, but relaxed. "Its just a transport. Hmmm."

            "Has a Republic signal too," Krok offered. The Supreme Admiral nodded, and the commlink on the bridge of the Supreme crackled open.

            "My name's Jim Bogaan, and I am Rogue Leader of Rogue Squadron. Supreme General Darklighter has dispatched us to lead ten squadrons of fighters. We've got six squads of E-Wings, two X-Wings and two of the new D-Wing bombers. Permission to attack, Admiral?"

            Susan Resk nodded on her holodisplay. "Permission granted. All Republic ships, commence to the fleet. Prepare all battle stations, red alert! I want squads on the ground where the distress call is! I want every person aboard these ships taking out and capturing as many troops as possible!"

            People began to rush into their stations, and Resk just cleared her mind, as she once again focused mentally on battle. She had become Supreme Admiral being a tremendous commander, and people respected her because everyone knew, that no matter what game sim you played against her, she would always beat you.

*           *           *

            "Ben! Anakin!" Luke Skywalker walked forward. They saw dots in the sky, slowly approaching. Luke had never been so glad to see his nephew and son. "I think those are more Imperial landers. I've got Zen right here." Luke dropped the unconscious and probably near-dead alien, making him into a tangled clump of reptilian arms, legs and scales.

            "Dad, why are you carrying a dead guy around?" Ben asked his old father. Luke smiled, and Anakin couldn't help cracking up into laughter.

            "He's not dead, Ben."

            "Why not?"

            "We don't execute prisoners, we're Jedi. Besides-" Luke began, but Ben cut him off.

            "But Dad, he's a Sith! He can never turn to the light side again. We have to kill him before he becomes like Palpatine, able to take over other's bodies!"

            Luke nodded at his son, and Anakin watched. "Yes Ben. However, I always have kept Universal Energy Cages as artifacts. Someone will be able to power it up. Its what Vader used to capture the Jedi," he said, biting his lip. "Plus, with ysalamari in the room with the cage, anyone with use of the Force is blocked out, like someone with no Force sensitivity."

            Ben nodded. "But dad, he might wake up."

            "Its too late for that," Anakin said, jumping backwards. "Ben, get back!!"

            The three Jedi leaped back, all igniting their lightsabers as the Falleen suddenly came to life. His leg stumps slowly stopped dripping blood, and skin rapidly began to cover, like a miracle healing. He used the Force to pick the lightsaber off of Luke's belt. He flipped the saber around, and it stabbed Luke right in the heart.

            "NO!!!!!!!" Ben screamed instantly as the saber pulled out. The Falleen laughed and shot bolts at the teenager. Anakin attempted to block them, but it was useless as the bolts drove him back, off the edge of the building.

            Ben struck with great precision, but Zen had begun to allow himself to hover with the Force, getting higher by the second. Zen shot lightning out, giving up hovering for power, and the bolts zapped Ben. His face twisted into a scream of anger, and he used his lightsaber to zap and block the bolts, sending them back at Zen.

            Zen convulsed as the lightning electrocuted him for a second. He grabbed his lightsaber again, but not quick enough to block Ben's crazed blows of the dark side. Ben suddenly sliced off Zen's left arm from the mid-forearm down. The Falleen cried out in pain as blood squirted from the wound. He began to use the Force to heal it, and shot even more powerful bolts, shooting Ben's saber out of his hand.

            Zen threw Ben back with a Force push, and then held his hand up, choking Ben as he hovered above the ground. "Surrender to the dark side, or you will die. You have let in envelop you too long now. You can feel the power at your fingertips!"

            "Kill me. I'll die a Jedi," he said.

            Zen smiled for the first time in several hours. He used the Force to shoot his blood across the rooftop and onto Ben's Jedi tunic. He moved him off the side of the rooftop. Ben looked down, and he saw the traffic below crashing and being shot at by Imperial troops.

            A push of the Force knocked Zen off guard, sending Ben flying backwards into the traffic. Anakin leaped up, like Ben thought he would, and shot himself upwards onto the roof. Zen still hovered, staring at the two with his orange lightsaber glowing.

            Anakin still couldn't believe Zen had killed Luke Skywalker. He ignited his lightsaber, and walked forward. "Zen, surrender to us."

            Zen didn't respond, only swinging his lightsaber. Anakin's hard blow sent the saber flying, and Anakin pulled it to his hand, using the two sabers. He held them both, one at Zen's throat, one on the back of his neck. "You are defeated," Anakin said.

            Ben didn't know whether Anakin would chop his head off or not. Zen shook his head, and Anakin suddenly flew back, shooting off the building and presumably crashing into the streets below. Ben held in his rage, and simply stepped forward with his yellow blade.

            He attempted to stab the Sith, but Zen put up his lightsaber in defense. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Imperial troopers jumped onto the roof, blasters blazing, shooting ruby red bolts through the daylight.

            Ben ran, knowing he was no match for an Imperial army and Zen. Revenge seeped into him deeply like water in a sponge. He let it flow out, refusing to give into the dark side any longer. Even if his master was gone-

            "Ah!" Ben yelped as a hand pulled him off the roof.

            "Don't make a sound. I've clouded their hearing and senses for now, but we have to get out of here fast." Ben immediately recognized that as of the voice of Anakin. Anakin grabbed a long fire escape and began climbing down in to an alley below. Ben followed without making a sound, except for the delicate smack of their boots on the sticky ground. "Don't even ask what's on these streets," Anakin said jokingly. Ben didn't even smiled. Given the circumstances, smiling was about the last thing he wanted. He wanted back his father. He wanted back his Jedi friends… He wanted back his uncle. _And I've wanted my mother since she died._

            Ben knew that Zen's death would do nothing justice. The dark side jumped off him completely. He knew he would capture Zen, keep him Force-less for years inside a cage, feeding him minimal, disgusting rations. That's what he would do to Zen…

            Ben's thought trailed off very quickly, as he noticed Anakin started up some stairs. It was awful dark in the alleys, especially since on the roof tops the sun shined incredibly bright. "Master, where are we going?"

            Anakin sniffed and cleared his throat. "I don't know…" he said, pulling his lightsaber off his belt. "Hold that thought." A blue blade appeared, slicing through a door's lock. He used a killer kick to smack the door open. Blaster bolts singed out at them suddenly, and Ben and Anakin, using the Force to guide them, deflected the bolts into the attacking stormtroopers, taking them down in a flash.

            "Master, what is that?" Ben asked Anakin. The two Jedi turned around, and heard blaster bolts and explosions in the distance. They went back in the alley, watching as Republic transports dropped troopers on top of each building. Heavy blaster cannons blasted outdated Imperial walkers, sending the giant mechs crashing to the ground. A transport landed in an intersection of the street. Ben followed his master as a man stepped out of the transport.

            "Hurry!" the man said, and Anakin and Ben didn't argue, boarding the transport as it shot off into the sky. Republic E-Wings, D-Wings, even old X and B-Wings soared through the skies, firing torpedoes and laser cannons alike, zapping Imperial troops.

*           *           *

            Turbolasers shot through the dark void of space, silent but deadly. Explosions rocked the shields of the giant capital ships as the Republic forces and Zen's New Imperial forces collided. It may have been a fair fight for the tremendous capital ships, but for Rogue Squadron and the rest of the Republic's starfighters, the modified TIEs in their large numbers were incredible.

            "Rogue Five, look out! Half a squadron!" Tim Triforce screamed into his commlink as 6 TIE Interceptors screamed at them. Tim, who was Rogue Four, shot downwards, feeling the G's rip on him inside of his X-Wing. He shot a volley of laser blasts that dissipated against the shields of a Scimitar Bomber.

            "Rogue Leader, I've got your rear," Tim called out to Jim Bogaan. He had heard of Jim's narrow escape on the New Imperial Destroyer, and through what he had seen in his sensors and his eyes, he believed the power those strange new Destroyers had. He fired another volley, this time destroying the Scimitar Bomber he shot at before.

            "Good shot, Four," Jim said, barely executing a barrel roll. The laser bolts shooting from the TIE fighter narrowly missed him, but instead hit Tim's shields. The impact sent his fighter spinning wildly.

            Rogue Two shot upwards and to the left, launching her sublight drive towards the Star Destroyer. The young woman gritted her teeth. "There's a hole in the particle shields, I'm launching my torps." Jim Bogaan's eyes shot up.

            "Don't do that!" _What is she thinking?!  
            His targeting computer blinked as her torpedoes launched forth, creating a huge explosion on the hull of the Star Destroyer. Laser cannons shot forth, blasting Rogue Two to space dust._

            "Jan…" Jim's voice trailed off. _That was suicidal! Why did she do that?! He then realized. His E-Wing's computers were blazing. His R7 unit squealed and squeaked frantically, as a huge source of energy shot up from the large hole in the shields. Rogue Two had hit an energy processor, and the energy was eating away at the hull of the Destroyer!_

            The rest of the Rogues got back into formation, firing their laser cannons, shredding away at TIE fighter shields. They watched on their computer, excited as the hull of the Destroyer began exploding. Jim jerked his flight stick. "Wahhhhhhhhhhoooooooo!" he yelled, and the rest of the Rogues shared the same feeling as they launched farther into the New Imperial fleet. Jim twisted, and went into a tornado roll downwards at a squadron of TIEs. He fired his cannons, and the rest of Rogue Squadron, another E-Wing squadron, and an X-Wing squadron followed, cannons blazing.

            Jim led the way into a mass of Carrack cruisers and Star Destroyer. One of the Carrack cruisers suddenly erupted as turbolasers hit it. Debris shot everywhere, and fire blasted through the cold void of space. The fighters avoided it easily, but it proved to be a distraction as a mass of TIE fighters began to fire.

            Tim Triforce fired his retro-rockets, spinning backwards and trying to shoot spinning. "Rogue, Blue and Green Squadrons. We need you to escort a transport coming from the planet. Its full of prisoners, and we can't let it be destroyed or captured." Jim nodded as the transmission came in. Other pilots acknowledged, waiting for orders from Bogaan.

            "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. We'll go in the standard formation, don't leave formation to chase a fighter, stay within 25 meters to shoot. Let's move!" Rogue Leader launched his thrusters, and the three squadrons followed him as the surrounded the incoming transport.

*           *           *

            Admiral Welsh ran through the hallways as quick as he could, trying to remember which way the escape pods were. The _Knight's inertial compensator's generator had been busted by Republic torpedoes, and the energy had been eating away the hull. Although stopped, all shields were down and Welsh knew he would rather live on Nal Hutta for 20 years than be captured by Republic scum._

            "Admiral, the Republic is boarding us! What are your orders?" Officers frantically began running around.

            "Everyone!!! GET BACK TO YOUR STATIONS!" Welsh yelled painfully. "All troops destroy the Republic boarding parties! Order the fleet to launch into hyperspace and meet at the rendezvous!" Welsh yelled again, and officers went back to their stations. If the Admiral left Zen on Nal Hutta, so be it. He was the commander now. _That Jedi fool is probably dead anyway, Welsh thought._

            Behind him, a dark figure emerged in a hoverchair. Welsh turned around to head for the bridge, and then saw him. It was Zen. "My lord! You have arrived!"

            Zen smiled. "Your thoughts of betrayal will be tolerated for now, Admiral. I must inform you of something very important."

            Welsh gulped. "Yes?"

            "Through much discovery and meditation, I have discovered something that may shock you. Even when I tested your midi-chlorians, it appears it is true."

            The Admiral looked at him. "Admiral, you are the Chosen Sith."

            Welsh's eyes widened. "I could never be-"

            "Silence, I must tell you what this means. For thousands and thousands of years, Dark Jedi and Sith alike have predicted a great seer. Together, the two of us can rule the galaxy, if you allow me to train you."

            Welsh nodded. "My master, I would be delighted-"

            Zen stopped him by closing his hand in air, beginning to choke the Admiral.The Admiral gasped, not being able to breathe, and Zen tightened his hand. The Admiral suddenly focused, and pulled the grip off, dropping himself and pulling out his blaster, firing. Zen deflected the bolt easily.

            "Congratulations, Admiral. Your first test has been passed."

*           *           *

            Ben Skywalker and Anakin Solo watched from the bridge of the _Underthrive as the New Imperial fleet launched into hyperspace. "Why did they go so quickly? They left almost all of their ground troops," Ben said._

            Anakin shook his head. "They're not like us. All it is to them a couple troops. They may have a Republic-sized army for all we know."

            Captain Krok nodded at them both, his tentacles flapping. "The Supreme Admiral has declared a galactic search with probe droids. Every known and barely known system will be scanned several times."

            Anakin nodded quickly. "She's got the right idea. That Falleen _killed Luke Skywalker." He watched as a tear went down Ben's face. He wished Mara would still be alive to comfort Ben, but she had died in battle many years ago. But what he really wished is that Susan Resk's plan would work. __We must find Zen and all of his forces, or else the Republic and all of the Jedi will be doomed._

**To be continued in… **

**The Second Order: Revenge**


End file.
